Moated site and fishponds 150m north of Attingham Home 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 north east of Attingham Home Farm is a well-preserved example of this type of monument. In addition to the structures which are known to have occupied the site in the late 18th century, the moated island will retain buried evidence of earlier buildings. The structural features, together with the associated artefacts and organic remains, will provide valuable evidence about the occupation and social status of the inhabitants of the site. The adjacent fishponds provide additional evidence about the economy and lifestyle of the inhabitants of the moated site during the medieval period. The importance of the moated site is enhanced by its association with the hamlet of Berwick Maviston, providing an insight into the relationships between different social classes during the medieval and post-medieval periods. The monument is accessible to the public and is therefore a valuable public amenity.

Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a medieval moated site and two associated fishponds. The moated site is considered to be the centre of the manor of Berwick Maviston, an estate which had been established by the time of the Domesday survey. A documentary source indicates that by 1324 the manor house at Berwick Maviston was in ruins. The earliest known documentary reference to the neighbouring settlement also dates to about this time. A plan of Berwick Maviston, produced by T F Dukes in 1790, shows a house, known as `Grant's Mansion', and a series of outbuildings mainly occupying the south western part of the moated island. This group of buildings formed the northern part of the hamlet at this time. The plan shows the extant remains of the southern and eastern moat arms, and seems to suggest that the northern and western arms had largely been infilled by this date. An illustation of the mansion published in 1838 indicates that the house, with its mullioned windows and large chimneys, was mainly a 17th century construction. The mansion and the majority of the buildings forming part of the adjacent hamlet were demolished around 1800 in order to include the area within the enlarged park at Attingham, as proposed by Humphry Repton. Attingham Park is a Grade II* Registered Park and Garden. The settlement remains of Berwick Maviston to the south west of the moated site are not included in the scheduling. The moated site is situated on a gentle south west facing slope above the flood plain of the River Severn. The moat, which averages 13m wide, defines a sub-rectangular island approximately 70m east-west by 90m north-south. The southern and eastern moat arms retain water, while the western and northern arms are now visible as shallow depressions having been largely infilled. A 3m wide entrance causeway crosses the moat at the south eastern corner. Connected to the western arm of the moat are the remains of a small rectangular water-filled fishpond, measuring approximately 18m by 28m. A 5m wide channel, now largely silted up, connects this pond with a larger sub-rectangular fishpond, also water-filled, to the west. This larger pond measures about 38m by 65m. During the medieval period these ponds would have been used for the breeding and storage of fish, in order to provide a sustainable supply of food. In the post-medieval period they are both likely to have served as ornamental features in association with Grant's Mansion. All fence and gate posts, the bird hide and information board on the moated island, the surface of the track next to the larger pond and the concrete kerbs around its eastern end, and the utility poles are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath all these features 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:

34906

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Everson, P, Stamper, P A, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society in Berwick Maviston and Attingham Park, (1987), 64-9

End of official list entry

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