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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 remains of the medieval moated site at Newton survive as a series of earthworks and buried deposits which form an integral part of the medieval landscape, including a contemporary field system to which they are directly related. The moated site is also associated with post-medieval land-use, in particular the remains of an unusual ornamental garden of the 18th century which overlies it. The site has never been excavated, and archaeological deposits of both the medieval and post-medieval periods are likely to survive intact; water-logging in the area of the moat will preserve organic material such as timber, leather and food remains, which provide an insight into economic and social activity on the site. The understanding of the site has been enhanced by historical documentation and research. Details The monument includes a moated site located approximately 70m south of Moat Farm in the south eastern part of the village of Newton. The site is associated with one of four manors which existed in Newton during the Middle Ages. In the post-medieval period it lay within the grounds of a large manor house, now destroyed, which was built by the Saviles in the late 16th century and fell into ruin in the 18th century. The remains include the earthworks of a rectangular moat, linked on the south to the headland of a medieval field containing traces of ridge-and-furrow cultivation, with a linear pond adjacent to the west. The remains of the medieval period are partly overlain by those of a post-medieval garden. The monument is situated in an area of pasture on a gentle north facing slope overlooking the eastern end of the village. The moated platform is roughly square in shape, measuring approximately 23m x 23m. It is occupied by a conical mound which rises to a height of about 5m above the level of the moat and terminates in a small oval platform approximately 4m x 6m. The moat varies in width between 6m and 8m and is water-filled on the lower, northern, side. There is an external bank on each of the north, east and south sides of the moat; that on the south is broad and flat, measuring approximately 6m in width, while those on the east and north sides are narrower and slope away gradually to the level of the adjacent field. Both the mound and the banks on the south and east sides are planted with large trees and mature hawthorns. The north western corner of the moat protrudes slightly outwards and drains into a narrow linear channel. The north eastern corner also extends outwards to form a shallow pool; adjacent to the north is a low, roughly circular bank with a gap in the western side. The moat, and the rectangular platform which it surrounds, are believed to be medieval in origin, representing the site of part of one of the manors established in the village in the 11th century. The conical mound which now occupies the platform is post-medieval in date, representing the remains of a Chinese-style garden created on the site in the 18th century. The mound was formerly circled by a spiral pathway leading up to a small summerhouse which occupied the oval platform at the top of the mound. The moat was also re-dug at this time and the external banks altered. The planting of the mound and two of the banks, and the enlargement of the north western and north eastern corners of the moat with associated earthworks, are also related to the use of the site as a post-medieval garden. The moat is fed by a linear channel, approximately 5m in width, which runs into its south eastern corner. This channel is linked on the south to a field boundary represented by a shallow east-west depression, and thence to the adjacent headland of a medieval field which includes the remains of ridge-and-furrow cultivation. The ridges run roughly north to south and are about 9m wide and 0.5m high, terminating in pear-shaped mounds about 0.7m high. The headland represents the edge of one of the open fields which surrounded the village in medieval times, at the point where it adjoined the enclosed land of the manor. The moat was thus fed by rainwater running down the furrows in the direction of the slope. To the west of the moat is an irregular water-filled pond, approximately 30m x 10m and 1.5m deep, aligned roughly east-west at a distance of 5m from the southern arm of the moat. This pond is believed to have formed part of the post-medieval garden. On the western side of the moat is the site of a Chinese-style bridge which formerly crossed over to the moated mound. The adaptation of the medieval remains to form a garden, including the planting of the southern and eastern sides of the site, can thus be seen to have centred upon an approach and view from the north west where the former manor house lay. All fences are excluded from the scheduling; the ground beneath them is, however, included. Sources Books and journals Cave, L, Parish Story, (1987) Marrat, W, History of Lincolnshire, (1816), 172-3 Other Healey, RH and Roffe, DR, Some medieval and later earthworks in South Lincolnshire, 1989, unpublished manuscript Healey, RH and Roffe, DR, Some medieval and later earthworks in South Lincolnshire, 1989, unpublished manuscript Lincolnshire Archives, Anc. 6/C/1, (1720) Title: Kesteven Award 56 (1769) - Inclosure Plan Source Date: 1768 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Lincolnshire Archives

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