Catworth moated manorial complex with associated ridge and furrow

Summary

Moated manorial site, with building platforms, fish ponds, contiguous ridge and furrow, possible windmill mound and sunken tracks.

Reasons for Designation

The medieval moated manorial complex at Catworth, likely dating from C13, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: the major elements of the moated manorial site survive well, with clearly defined platforms, moat, fishponds and possible windmill mound;

* Diversity; the building platforms, moat, fishponds, possible mill mound, sunken tracks, ridge and furrow offer a diverse range of stratified features add significantly to the sites importance;

* Potential: there is clear evidence for the survival of significant buried structural remains, and for the possible survival of waterlogged organic material (which, if present and scientifically analysed, could have the potential to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the manorial site and the wider social and economic landscape in which it functioned);

* Documentation: the existence of documentary evidence can trace the genealogy of the site from the early C13 providing a comprehensive record of Catworth's evolution;

* Group value: it has strong historic and functional group value with the Grade I listed Church of St Leonards, the Grade II listed church gates, former Old Rectory (now known as The Grange) and Corner Farmhouse, adding to the importance of the site.

History

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.

Various documentary sources including the Victoria County History provide a clear understanding of the genealogy of the manorial site: the de Bekerings were Lords of the Manor of Great Catworth and they had the advowson of St Leonard’s Church from 1239 or earlier. It is possible that the de Bekering’s conformed to the common pattern, they built the church as a private chapel and then transformed it into the parish church.

When the male line of the de Bekerings ended in 1425 the manor and advowson passed to Sir Thomas Rempston through his wife Alice de Bekering and continued through her descendants (or their husbands) to Thomas Vaux second baron of Harrowden in 1523 via Elizabeth Cheyne. Sometime after the death of William Vaux the third baron of Harrowden in 1595, the manor of Great Catworth, some arable land and his ‘closes of pasture called MADCROFTS’ passed to Henry Richards of Keysoe who sold them to William Bunbury rector of Great Catworth in 1736/7. The land and the manor had devolved to Susannah Raitt by 1786.

At the time of the Inclosure Award (1799) there were at least four Madcroft Closes (totalling about 18.4 acres) one of which abuts the boundary ditch of the surviving manorial earthworks, and the others are nearby. This furlong is the Madcroft furlong of 1279 owned by Thomas de Bekering which by that time was permanent pasture (meadow) and appears to have remained so ever since.

There is a former windmill site within 200m from the earthworks and another about 500m distant. An ordnance survey map of 1835 clearly shows one mill lying some distance to the south-east but also a building or pond in the south-east corner of the manorial complex site.

The moated manorial complex site has a strong historic and functional relationship with the Grade I listed Church of Leonards immediately to the north, the former Old Rectory (now known as The Grange), Corner Farmhouse and the church gates all listed at Grade II. In addition to the currently listed buildings Catworth forms a strong group with contiguous ridge and furrow, sunken trackways and a medieval back lane.

Details

Principal elements
Moated manorial site, with building platforms, fish ponds, contiguous ridge and furrow, possible windmill mound and sunken tracks.

Details
The monument survives as a series of earthworks and buried remains some surviving up to 2m high. A medieval moat, possible fishponds and other extensive earthworks are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data and were mapped as part of the Bedford Borough NMP project (2013). Most of the features are also visible on the ground. Located in the field immediately south of the Church of Saint Leonard (Listed Grade I) and centred at grid reference TL 08928 73264, the earthworks extend over 200 metres west to east and 130 metres north to south and cover the entire paddock south of the church. There is no indication of any ridge and furrow within this area although there is contiguous ridge and furrow to the south and east which forms a part of the scheduling. A sunken track, possibly a back lane runs east to west from the south-east corner of the church yard, a public footpath now follows its course.

In the main area of the manorial complex, immediately south of the church are two adjacent rectangular platforms bounded by a continuous ditch about 5 metres wide, which is linked on its S side by possible linear fishponds 6 metres wide and about 85 metres long. The main enclosure platform is about 26.5 by 35.5 metres with an adjacent ditch-enclosed platform to the south about 25 by 31.5 metres aligned roughly east to west. Centred about 50 metres to the west is a linear ditch that may have been a fishpond, about 8 metres wide and 64 metres long. East of the two enclosures centred at grid reference TL 08933 73267 is a rectangular platform about 15 metres north to south by 5 metres east to west and east of this are two parallel ditches with flanking banks aligned south-west to north-east. The outer ditch is about 9 metres wide and a reversed L-shape, being about 139 metres south-west to north-east and 86 metres south-east to north-west. The inner ditch is about 7 metres wide and 70 metres long. Within the area enclosed by the ditches are hummocks and hollows that are not natural, but are of uncertain date and function. Some of these features are possibly related to the construction of a nearby pond in the modern era (probably 19th or early 20th century), but the amorphous earthworks may be contemporary with the other features. Centred at TL 08925 73205 outside the linear ditches or fishponds is a circular earthwork mound about 7 metres in diameter with a dip in the centre, possibly a mill mound. The mound is of uncertain date and function, but possibly contemporary with the moat. Although some features have been infilled they remain as buried survivals.

Sources

Books and journals
Page, W, Proby, G, Inskip Ladds, S, Victoria County History of Huntingdonshire Volume 3, (1936)

Other
Bedford Borough NMP, 2018,
LIDAR TL0873-0973 Environment Agency 1m DTM JAN 1998–AUG 2016
RAF 10/08/1945 106G/UK/6553135 - 3136 (Aerial Photograph).
RCHM. 1926. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Huntingdonshire.

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