Scheduled Monument: MOATED SITE AND TWO FISHPONDS AT MOAT WOOD (1011439)

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 in Moat Wood is a well preserved example of a substantial manorial moat with associated fishponds. Although somewhat disturbed by scrub, the monument retains the buried remains of buildings and other features throughout and well preserved organic and environmental remains will survive in the waterlogged deposits of the moat and two fishponds. DETAILS The monument includes a moated site and two fishponds. The moated site comprises a roughly 50m square island surrounded by a waterlogged moat measuring between 10m and 15m wide and up to 3m deep. The island is partially enclosed by a substantial bank on the south and east sides, measuring up to 2m high and interpreted as the site of a wall or palisade. Platforms in the western half of the island indicate the sites of buildings while, at the south-east corner, there is a level area interpreted as a courtyard. A channel leading north from this courtyard opens, at the north-east corner of the island, into a filled-in fishpond measuring 9m from north to south by 5m from east to west. A sluice leads from the north-west corner of the pond into the north arm of the moat. The channel entering the pond at its south-west corner indicates the position of a drain. On the north side, the moat is divided from Stanley Brook by a substantial outer bank. However there is an outflow channel linking the moat and the brook at the north-east corner of the former. The moat is fed by a spring to the south, the water entering via a large embanked fishpond which is now largely silted up and measures c.45m from east to west by 20m from north to south. The earthworks around the fishpond extend into outer banks which follow the south and east sides of the moat. Access onto the island was via a 7m wide causeway across the east arm of the moat. SELECTED SOURCES Book Reference - Author: Cox, J C - Title: The Churches of Derbyshire - Date: 1879 - Volume: 4 - Type: DESC TEXT - Description: Pagination 228