Tilehouse Green moated site

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 Tilehouse Green is a well preserved example of a single-phase, single-island rectangular moat, typical of a small farmstead site in an area of dispersed settlement. The association of this site with five other moated sites in the vicinity, all of which appear to form part of one manorial grouping, will give an insight into manorial practices in the region. The moat has remained water-filled throughout its history and limited excavation has shown that organic remains survive well within the buried deposits. Evidence of reuse of the island for industrial purposes in the post-medieval period will provide valuable information about small scale industrial processes in the early industrial period in this area.

Details

The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of a rectangular moated site approximately 90m by 50m which is oriented north west by south east. The arms of the moat, which are water-filled, are 7m to 10m wide, being widest at the angles of the moat.

The moat encloses a rectangular island which measures approximately 50m by 30m and is level with the surrounding ground level. The surface of the island is level with a shallow depression towards its centre. The moat is now fed by a stream in the southern angle which has been utilised as a surface storm drain for the surrounding housing development and has been reinforced in concrete. Water is drained from the moat in the northern angle where modern concrete drainage systems have also been introduced.

There is evidence of a depression or hollow way 2m east of the western angle of the moated island. This hollow way gave access to a ford which survives on both banks of the northern arm of the moat; this corresponds with the site of the causeway constructed in the 18th century which was found during limited excavations. An indentation in the outer bank of the eastern angle of the moat may indicate the original site of the moat feeder which corresponds with the lowest level of the shallow valley in which the moat lies.

The monument forms one of a group of six moats which lay in the territory of the Manor of Longdon, although little is known of its history. The first record of the monument appears to be a reference of 1591 to `le tilehouse, Tilehouse Grene'. Recent limited excavations in advance of the insertion of modern storm drainage systems found traces of occupation of the site prior to the construction of the moat and determined that the moat was occupied during the 13th and 14th centuries. In the post-medieval period the site appears to have been deserted, although it may have been associated with the tile manufactory referred to in 1591 and with the large clay pit located nearby at the junction of Browns Lane and Tilehouse Green Lane.

The modern post and wire fences and wooden footbridges and all garden furniture and the modern concrete surface fittings for the storm drainage inlet and outlet are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

30002

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Salzman, LF (ed), The Victoria History of the County of Warwickshire: Volume IV, (1947), 221-1
Pemberton, R, Solihull and its Church, (1905), 18-22
Andrews, D, Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire AA. in The Moated Site At Tilehouse Green, Solihull., Vol. 92, (1984), 149 153

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