Details

The moat at Great Hall Spinney is located on the north side of the village of
Luddington and just to the north-west of the church. The site lies close to
Alconbury Brook which supplies water for the moat.
The moated site covers an area measuring approximately 150m x 100m. The moat
island is surrounded by a ditch on all but its south-eastern side. The ditch
varies in depth between 0.5m in the west and 2m in the east and is up to 6m
wide in places; the north-eastern arm of the ditch is still waterlogged. An
outer bank about 2m high, lies around the north-eastern corner and the
northern arm of the moat ditch. On the northern side of this northern arm and
divided from the moat ditch by a bank 2m high, lies a long irregular
depression which is often waterlogged and is the location of an associated
fishpond. Within the moat island is a raised platform indicating the site of
a former building; a small modern garden outbuilding is currently sited upon
the platform.
The moat lies adjacent to, but separate from, the location of the shrunken
medieval village of Luddington, the earthworks of which have been levelled
and ploughed (not included in the scheduling). Records indicate that this
moat was the location of the medieval manor house of the village, and that the
house had been abandoned by 1640. The village was documented in both the
medieval and post-medieval periods, and was occupied into the last century,
when it was much altered.
The modern garden outbuildings within the moat island are excluded from the
scheduling, but the ground beneath them 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.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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.

Great Hall Spinney moat at Luddington represents a good example of a manorial
site associated with a well documented village with a long history of
occupation. As the moat island is largely undisturbed and the moat ditches
are well preserved and partially waterlogged, the monument retains
considerable archaeological potential for preserving information concerning
the development and decline of the manor house, and about the contemporary
environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England, , Archaeological Sites in North East Northamptonshire , (1975), 64-5

Source: Historic England