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 and associated fishpond to the south east of Barrow Hall
survive with a variety of original features and is a good example of a high
status moated domestic enclosure. Although the central island has undergone
some disturbance from ploughing in the past, it is known to retain buried
remains of the historically documented 16th century manor house towards the
centre of the island and also displays earthworks relating to associated
formal gardens. The 16th century map depicting a house on the island along
with other historical documentation adds considerably to the interest of the
monument.
The ponds to the north form an integral part of the medieval/post-medieval
moated manorial complex and provides further evidence for its economy and
status.
Evidence for earlier land use and the local environment will survive in buried
soils beneath the internal and external banks of the island and within the
silts of the moat and fishpond.
Comparisons between this site and with further examples, both locally and more
widely, will provide valuable insights into the development and nature of
settlement in medieval England.
Details
The monument includes a medieval moated site and associated fishpond about
400m to the north of Barrow Green and 600m SSE of All Saints' Church.
The moated site includes a rectangular island, measuring up to 96m north to
south by 90m east to west. An inner bank along the western and southern sides,
which measures up to 9m wide and approximately 2m high, is all that remains of
a bank which originally extended around all but the north west corner of the
island and may have originally been constructed as a raised walkway around a
formal garden. The island is surrounded by a waterfilled moat measuring an
average 21m in width and up to 4m in depth. Outer banks, measuring up to 12m
wide and in places 1.5m high are visible along the north, east, south and part
of the western side. These banks are thought to have been constructed with
material dug from the moat. A causeway across the western arm of the moat is
known to have been in use before 1597 and is believed to represent the
original access to the island. An extension to the western arm of the moat
runs northwards for 86m with a bank on its east side. This extension is marked
on a map of 1840 as a separate pond. A further pond, on the same north to
south alignment as the extension, measures 65m long by 20m wide. It is thought
that these ponds represent either medieval fishponds or perhaps ornamental
garden features associated with an early post-medieval formal garden to the
north of the moat.
The moated site is thought to be the site of the manor of Barrow, mentioned in
the 12th and 13th centuries as belonging to the Passelewe family. By 1540 the
manor had been acquired by Sir Clement Heigham. Sir Clement is recorded as
building a manor house at Barrow in the 1550s, and a 1779 map copying one
drawn up in 1597 depicts a manor house on the moated site. The map depicts
Barrow Hall as an L-shaped group of buildings consisting of a double-storeyed
main range running north to south and a single storey range running east to
west. The local historian, J Gage records that Barrow Hall was standing until
the mid-18th century and that fragments of it were still standing within the
moat in 1838. Building material has been recorded on the surface of the island
over the past 30 years and an iron key, thought to be 13th century in date,
and a fragment of a bronze belt end have both been found on the moated site.
The 16th century manor house may have replaced an earlier medieval building on
the moat island. The present Barrow Hall, which is a Listed Building Grade II
dated to the 17th century, is sited to the north west of the moated site.
The fencing and gates, on and around the moated site and the horse exerciser
on the island are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath
them is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
