Margaret's Camp, moated site and associated remains

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.

Margaret's Camp lies to the east of the main route into the important medieval and post-medieval market town of Tewkesbury. The surrounding area has been heavily developed for housing, and the moated site represents the only open ground within this area. Evidence for a complex water management system which survives in association with the moat, would have been necessary for the Tewkesbury area where severe seasonal floods have been recorded from the medieval period. Survival of waterlogged remains and other archaeological evidence can be expected within the area of the monument.

Tewkesbury was the subject of an archaeological assessment by Gloucestershire County Council in 1997. This provided information about the origins, development and plan of the town from its origins in the Roman period to the present day.

Details

The monument known as Margaret's Camp includes a moated site with what survives of an associated system of water management features, situated on the southern outskirts of Tewkesbury. Part of the site, on its northern side, has been affected by development and is not included in the scheduling. The moated site is central to the monument and comprises a central square platform measuring about 30m across surrounded by a moat, about 8m wide and 1.5m deep with no surviving evidence for an internal or external bank. The north eastern corner of the moat has degraded over time and the ditch is not as clearly visible as the rest of the enclosure. The land slopes away from the moat to the south and south west, towards a pond, and an elaborate system of channels appear to have drawn water from the moat to this pond. A ditch, approximately 8m wide and 1.5m deep runs south from the moat, dog-legging to the west to join a much deeper ditch which runs from the northern end of the site into the pond. This second ditch is about 12m wide and up to 1.5m deep at its southern extent, but only about 6m wide and between 1.5m and 0.5m deep further to the north. The pond itself, which is at times water-filled is an elongated `L'-shape and approximately 2m deep. Other water management features in the form of shallow and degraded ditches are visible running across the site, the most significant of which runs east to west at the northern end of the field, disappearing under the modern road on the west and under the housing estate on the east. This ditch is about 8m wide and 0.5m deep. There is no evidence for similar earthworks to the south of the pond. The surviving earthworks associated with the moated site suggest that the complex was oringinally larger, stretching into the area of housing development to the north and east. The moated site is believed to take its name from the battle of 1471 when Queen Margaret is said to have spent the night before the battle in the area. Excluded from the scheduling are all modern fences, metal and wooden gates and their associated gatepostsm, 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:

31924

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Elrington, CR et al, The Victoria History of the County of Gloucestershire: Tewkesbury Borough, (1968), 116

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