Summary

Moat 160m ENE of Mansel Court Farm.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 28 May 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a moat situated in a valley on the northern bank of a small tributary to the Yazor Brook. The moat survives as an oval platform measuring up to 35m long by 30m wide and 1.6m high surrounded by a partly wet moat of up to 0.8m deep with a causeway to the north west and a partial outer stony bank. The moat and its platform were partially excavated in 1969. Buried stonework identified by subsequent field study led some sources to suggest this might have been a fortified house.

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.

Despite partial excavation the moat 160m ENE of Mansel Court Farm survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, function, development, longevity, social and political significance, domestic arrangements, abandonment and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape 108001, Herefordshire SMR 3206

Source: Historic England