Moated site 130m north east of Moorgreen 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 remains of the moated site 130m north east of Moorgreen Farm are well preserved and the site remains waterlogged which will preserve buried deposits including environmental remains. The association of the moated site with an extensive water management complex with leats, sluices and dams and with surviving ridge and furrow, will provide a wider view of the management and subsistence of the site. The island of the moat is relatively undisturbed which would suggest that the buried remains of buildings or structures are likely to survive intact. These remains will provide information about both the physical arrangement of structures on the site and its social and economic development.

Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a medieval moated site with associated fishponds and ridge and furrow cultivation remains. It is sited in a valley bottom. At the easternmost part of the monument there are two interconnecting ponds orientated east to west; to the west of these ponds lies a small square moat measuring approximately 70m by 70m and to the west of the moat is another, water-filled, fishpond orientated east to west. To the north of this pond a rectangular depression may have served as a fourth fishpond. The monument is bounded on the north by a stream which fed the complex, the water entering the first of the ponds in the north eastern corner of the complex via a sluice. The two easternmost ponds are dry and are clearly visible as relatively shallow depressions with banks measuring 0.5m to 2m high, being higher on the northern side of both ponds towards the stream. The easternmost pond which measures approximately 40m by 20m has a large, now breached, earthen dam at its eastern edge through which water was introduced to the complex. An earthen bank separates this pond from that to the west which measures approximately 60m by 30m. A sluice cut into the intervening bank connected the two ponds. In the middle of the northern bank of the western pond is a further sluice or breach from where water would have returned to the stream. An earth island measuring approximately 20m by 10m and orientated east to west lies in the western half of this second pond. To the south of the ponds in the lowest point of the valley, are the remains of an associated water channel. The western bank of the second pond forms the eastern outer bank of the moated site. This is cut by a sluice which fed water from the second pond into the moat. The moated site is represented by a series of substantial earthworks. Banks varying between 0.5m and 4m high are visible on all four sides and the arms of the moat measure between 5m an 10m across. In the middle of the southern arm of the moat ditch are the remains of a former entrance causeway or ford. The island of the moat measures approximately 60m by 65m. Its surface is undulating with the remains of an inner lip on the south inner bank. A large earth bank approximately 7m wide separates the moat from the westernmost pond, which was linked by a sluice through the bank. This pond, measuring approximately 60m by 40m, is still water-filled. To the north of the pond, between its outer bank and the stream, is a large linear depression, measuring approximately 60m by 6m and orientated east to west. A sluice entered this feature from the eastern corner, whilst another sluice led towards the stream from the north western corner of the depression. This feature may have acted as either a fourth pond or as an extended leat. On the western edge of the monument is an earth escarpment created by the build up required to level the site of the pond against the natural slope. Adjacent to the south of the moated site and associated fishponds is an area of ridge and furrow cultivation remains, aligned in sections both east to west and north to south. A sample of this has been included in the scheduling in order to preserve its relationship with the moated site. All modern fencing and posts 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:

30005

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the County of Worcester: Volume III, (1913), 251

Other
Bond C J & Aston M, An unpublished survey of moated site west of Weatheroak Hill, 1962, Plan and interpretive sketches
Bond C.J. & Aston M., An unpublished survey of moated site west of Weatheroak Hill, 1962, plan and interpretive sketch

End of official list entry

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