Details

The monument includes most of the earthwork and buried remains of a medieval moated site situated on level ground on the east edge of Bromfield adjacent to St Mungo's Church. The moated site includes a sub-rectangular enclosure surrounded by a partial ditch or moat approximately 3m to 4m wide and 0.5m deep. The northern moat ditch is infilled and does not form part of the scheduled monument.

SOURCES
PastScape Monument No:- 9505
NMR:- NY14NE1
Cumbria HER:- 600

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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.
St Mungo's Castle is well preserved as an earthwork and the monument will contain archaeological deposits relating to its construction, use and abandonment and environmental deposits relating to the use of the surrounding area. The monument provides insight into settlement patterns in the medieval period.

Source: Historic England