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Moated site 160m south-west of St Michael and All Angels' Church

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1007616
Date first listed:: 08-Sep-1993

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1007616
Date first listed:: 08-Sep-1993

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Staffordshire
District:: Stafford (District Authority)
Parish:: Colwich
National Grid Reference:: SK 00876 21031

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 at Church Farm is in a good state of preservation and includes upstanding earthwork remains on the island.

Details

The monument is situated 160m south west of St Michael and All Angels' Church, Colwich on low lying land prone to flooding. The moated site includes a slightly raised grass-covered island, rectangular in plan, 85m NW-SE by 50m NE-SW. The remains of associated internal earthworks are visible on the eastern side of the island. Access to the interior of the moated site is by a causeway across the NE arm of the moat. The moat measures 10m wide and is seasonally waterlogged though now partly silted. It survives to a depth of approximately 1.5m. It is surrounded by a tree-lined external enclosure bank up to 8m wide and 1m high. This feature is most evident on the western edge of the site. Excluded from the scheduling are the fence posts on the outer edge of the four sides of the moat, and the building of corrugated-iron on the island but the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 21502
Legacy System:: RSM

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.