Rookyard Farm Moats

Summary

Double moat. The northern moat is medieval, while the southern moat may date to the C16.

Reasons for Designation

Rookyard Farm Moats are scheduled for the following principal reasons:

Archaeological interest:

* As a well-preserved example of a large double moat;

* High archaeological potential of the northern moat platform;

* For the high archaeological and palaeoenvironmental potential of the deposits in both moats.

Historic interest:

* As a physical manifestation of the distribution of wealth and status in the countryside in the medieval and later periods;

* For its documentary record of the C16 and C17.

Group value:

* With the Grade II listed Rookyard Farmhouse.

History

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.

A moat is defined in the English Heritage (now Historic England) Monuments Protection programme Single Class Decription (English Heritage, no date) as a wide, water-filled ditch partly or completely enclosing one or more islands of dry ground which provided the site for one or more' buildings (domestic, religious or agricultural), or for horticulture, or for both. Moats may be situated in open countryside or within rural settlements. Moats had a variety of purposes, including demarcation of space, symbols of prestige, fish ponds, security, animal management or a combination of the above. They are unlikely to have been purely defensive. They range in date from the mid-late 12th century and continued into the early 16th century; the peak of moat building was between about 1250 and 1350.

The most distinctive feature of a moat is its ditch, and in many cases this is the only extant portion of the site. The ditches are relatively wide, normally between 3m and 6m, and excavated examples show that they were usually D-shaped in cross section and about 2m deep.

The early history of Rookyard Farm is not known, but can be inferred from the site layout. The northern moat platform is empty, and is adjacent to the standing farmhouse, which dates to the 1550s. This suggests that the northern moat was in existence by this time, and may have had a building on the platform (which was rendered obsolete or replaced by the construction of the present house). The date of the second moat is not known, but enclosed the current house, possibly as a garden or orchard moat. The current house was extended around 1570, then further altered with the addition of two axial chimneys in the early-C17. The 1570 wing is clearly placed to overlook the southern moat platform, demonstrating that the southern moat was almost certainly in existence by then, and suggesting that it functioned as a garden moat. The roof of the earlier wing was replaced in the C18 or C19. As the house was gentrified in the early C19, it is possible the roof dates to the same phase of work.

The manor of Old Newton was acquired by Robert Pretyman in 1543. As the manor was acquired from non-resident landlords, it is likely that the Pretyman family acquired a house within the parish at the same time, probably Rookyard Farm. Robert’s son Thomas inherited the property in 1562, around the time of the construction of the later wing.

Historic maps show a large tithe barn on the southern moat platform, which was demolished before 1980. The southern moat was drained in 1973, and the northern arm of the northern moat has silted up, and shows as a shallow earthwork. Part of the northern arm has recently been recut. Other recent alterations include the lowering of a garden wall and moving a wall away from the moat edge. There is some evidence of earlier masonry collapse into the southern moat.

Details

Double moat. The northern moat is medieval, while the southern moat may date to the C16.

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: The earthworks of a double moat surround the farmhouse of Rookyard Farm. It comprises a small, medieval moat to the north and a larger, probably post-medieval garden moat to the south.

DESCRIPTION: The northern of the two moated platforms is rectangular in plan. The platform measures 55m east-west by 40m. The platform is enclosed on the south and west sides by a water-filled moat, 7m wide on the south side, and 11m on the west, to a depth of at least 2m. The northern arm of the moat is infilled, but survives as a shallow depression. Some recent recutting of the northern arm is visible. Ordnance Survey and historic maps show this arm as water-filled. The moat platform is approximately 0.5m higher than the land to the west.

The southern moated platform is rectangular in plan, and measures 110m north – south by 95m. The platform is enclosed on the west, south and east sides by a seasonally water-filled moat measuring up to 10m in width and 2m deep. The moat is steep sided, with a U shaped profile, and the western arm shows some signs of collapse on the internal face. The southern arm has a slightly lower area, possibly once used as a cattle drink. The foundations of the demolished barn are visible on the southern moat platform. The north arm of the eastern arm of the moat has been shored with a modern retaining wall.

Sources

Books and journals
Wilson, D, Moated Sites, (1985)
Martin, EA, Easton, T, McKechnie, I, Conspicuous display: the extraordinary garden and buildings of a minor gentry family in mid-Suffolk in Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History, Vol. XXXVIII, (1993), 56-74

Other
Coveney, N (2015) Moated Sites in Medieval England: A Reassessment Unpublished PhD, University of Leicester, available from https://lra.le.ac.uk/bitstream/2381/33361/1/2015_COVENEY_N_PhD.pdf

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