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.
Details
The monument includes the surviving extent of the moated site, fishpond and
associated water management features located on low lying ground about 2.5km
south west of Hartpury village. The eastern and part of the southern arms of
the moat survive as a waterfilled ditch 12m wide and between 0.25m and 0.75m
deep. It is connected to a pond, believed to have been a fishpond, by a leat
visible as a depression leading from the southern arm of the moat. The
remaining arms of the moat have been infilled, but will survive as buried
features. The moat defines a rectangular island 74m north-south and a maximum
of 24m east-west. Hartpury Court, a Listed Building Grade II of mid-19th
century date, stands on the island and is known to have been built to replace
an earlier dwelling. To the north of the house is a Roman Catholic chapel
dating to 1830, a Listed Building Grade II, which is now used as a farm store.
Hartpury Court, which was also known as Abbots Court, was the property of
St Peter's Abbey, Gloucester, until the Dissolution in 1539, when it became
Crown property. In 1547 the property was leased to Richard Pates, Recorder of
Gloucester, after which date there are no further records of the site until
1794, when the house was used as a convent for nuns from France.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are Hartpury
Court, the former Roman Catholic chapel and its brick extension to the east,
the tarmac and stone surfaces outside the house which are used for car
parking, the breeze-block stable block at the northern end of the island, the
stone wall around the church, the stone and brick walls around Hartpury Court,
which are Listed Grade II, all post and wire and wooden post fences, metal and
wooden gates and gateposts, the concrete surface of the yard to the south of
the stable block, and the pylons at the northern end of the moat; the ground
beneath all these features is, however, included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
32337
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
