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Description

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 400m north east of Home Farm survives well as a series of earthworks and buried deposits. Waterlogging at the base of the moat and channels will preserve organic remains, such as timber, leather and seeds, which will give an insight into domestic and economic activity on the site. The banks and artificially raised ground will preserve evidence of land use prior to their construction. As one of two moats associated with the medieval village of Withcall it contributes to an understanding of the relationship between contemporary components of the medieval landscape. Details The monument includes a medieval moated site located 400m to the north east of Home Farm. The moat is one of two such sites located within the area of the former medieval village of Withcall; the second moat 250m to the south west is the subject of a separate scheduling. Documentary records show that in 1086 Withcall was held by the Bishop of Bayeux, Rainer de Brimou, and William Blund. By the 14th century Withcall was let to tenants and held by William Ribald of Louth. The moated site includes a moated platform, or island, with external banks and ditches and covers an area approximately 120m by 65m. The rectangular island measures 70m by 30m and includes an internal bank and a raised rectangular mound in the western corner which represents a building platform where the house would have been located. A shallow depression in the centre of the island, linked to the south eastern moat arm by a channel or leat, is thought to represent a subdivision of the moated island. The platform is enclosed on three sides by a broad dry moat measuring 8m to 14m in width with external banks measuring between 4m to 10m in width. On the fourth side the north west moat arm is partly cut by a modern drainage ditch containing water and is lined by an external bank measuring approximately 8m in width. Water was formerly supplied to the moat by a stream flowing in from the south west with the outer channels forming part of the water management system. On the north east side of the moat, immediately beyond the external bank, there is a broad channel, measuring 7m in width, whilst on the south western side of the moat the external bank is lined by a channel with an outer bank, which together measure 11m in width. Other areas of the former medieval village at Withcall have not survived as fully identifiable earthwork remains, and although these areas will include archaeological remains, the level of survival is currently unknown and they are not included in the scheduling. All fences are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included. Sources Books and journals Foster, C W, Longley, T, The Lincolnshire Domesday and the Lincolnshire Survey, (1976) Other Lincolnshire Archives Office, MM 1/1/22, (1399) NMR, 353113, (1998)

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