Details

The monument is a moated site comprising a roughly square platform surrounded
by a 12m wide moat with an average depth of c.2m. The platform, half of which
is buried beneath a railway embankment, is c.45m square and includes a bank
around its visible edge which would have been the site of a wall or palisade.
A substantial outer bank encloses the moat and incorporates a 15m wide breach
on the south side corresponding with a former bridging point across the moat.
The precise history of the site is unknown but documentary evidence indicates
that it was inhabited in c.1330.
The railway embankment and all modern fencing are excluded from the
scheduling, although the ground underneath 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.

Although up to half the moated site in Mapperley Park Wood is concealed
beneath a railway embankment, it is a good example of a small homestead moat
whose earthworks survive well and in which the buried remains of buildings and
other structures will be well preserved beneath the embankment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Quo Warranto Roll 1330/1
Other
Craven, D. and Drage, C., Moated Sites List, 1982, SMR

Source: Historic England