Moated site at Aubrey's Farm

Reasons for Designation

Around 6,000 moated sites are known in England. They consist of wide ditches, often or seasonally water-filled, partly or completely enclosing one or more islands of dry ground on which stood domestic or religious buildings. In some cases the islands were used for horticulture. The majority of moated sites served as prestigious aristocratic and seigneurial residences with the provision of a moat intended as a status symbol rather than a practical military defence. The peak period during which moated sites were built was between about 1250 and 1350 and by far the greatest concentration lies in central and eastern parts of England. However, moated sites were built throughout the medieval period, are widely scattered throughout England and exhibit a high level of diversity in their forms and sizes. They form a significant class of medieval monument and are important for the understanding of the distribution of wealth and status in the countryside. Many examples provide conditions favourable to the survival of organic remains.

The moated site at Aubrey's Farm is of an unusual size and survives in a relatively undisturbed condition, unencumbered by later buildings. Buried deposits on the island are likely to include the remains of medieval structures, and will contain archaeological information relating to the construction and subsequent occupation and use of the moated site. Within the moat, waterlogged deposits will preserve further archaeological remains relating to the occupation and use of the site, along with organic material which will provide information about the economy of the site and the local environment during the medieval period.

Details

The monument includes a moated site set on low lying ground to the south of the Malvern Hills. The moated site includes a trapeziodal four-armed moat enclosing an island aligned north west to south east, measuring 24m by 24m narrowing to 14m on the south east. The moat would have originally been 28m wide at its northwestern point, although this has been reduced generally to 16m, and 7m at its narrowest through the dumping of rubble into the moat during the 1980s and 1990s. It is water-filled and over 3m in depth. The moat was originally fed by a stream which runs into its south western corner, but has since been dammed. Although not visible at ground level, the buried remains of buildings will survive on the island. Although the present farmhouse is comparatively modern, Aubrey's Place is first mentioned in a document of 1424, and the moat itself is recorded in a conveyance of about 1600 when a plot of land is described as `being encompassed with a mote or pool of water'. It is likely, however, that a moat was first constructed on the site between 1250 and 1350. The Dutch barn and its concrete flooring where they impinge on the moat's protective margin are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

32334

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Wynn Lloyd, W, Trans. of the Bristol and Glos. Arch. Society in Bromsberrow, Vol. XLV, (1923), 151-2

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