Details

The monument is situated at Brockhurst, near Blymhill and includes two moated
sites in two separate areas.
The northernmost site is situated at Upper Brockhurst Farm and includes the
island and its moat. The moated island measures 40m north-south and 26m
west-east and is slightly raised. An area of pebblestones has been found on
the platform in the past. The eastern half of the moat is waterfilled and up
to 15m wide. The western arm and the north-western and south-western corners
are now dry and part of the northern arm of the moat has been infilled but
will survive as a buried feature. The northern arm projects approximately 8m
eastwards beyond the edge of the moated site. There is also a slight
projection at the south-eastern corner of the moat.
Approximately 50m to the south is a second moated site at Brockhurst Cottages.
The western moat arm has been infilled and is overlain by the road. The
remaining three arms of the moat, the northern, eastern and southern arms,
are visible and are up to 17m wide. They have been partially infilled. The
rectangular moated island measures 45m west-east and approximately 40m
north-south and is partly occupied by four modern houses.
The two moated sites are considered to be part of the same contemporary
complex and are likely to have been related in construction and function. At
one time the manor at Brockhurst included a gatehouse with solar, moat and
bridge, a dwelling-house, bakehouse, granary, cattle-sheds and other
buildings.
Excluded from the scheduling are the surface of the driveway on the northern
edge of the monument, the telegraph pole on the northern moated island, the
driveway surfaces at Brockhurst Cottages, the cottages themselves which occupy
the southern moated island and all fence posts but the ground beneath all
these features 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.

The monument at Brockhurst survives well and is an unusual example in
Staffordshire of a pair of moated sites situated in close proximity to each
other. Evidence of the buildings that originally occupied the moated
islands will survive and organic material will be preserved within the
waterlogged sections of the northern moat which will be of value in
understanding the historic environment and economy of the site.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the County of Staffordshire, (1958), 64 & 67
Hammer, M E, 'Staffordshire Archaeology' in The Moated Sites of Staffordshire, , Vol. 3, (1974), 33

Source: Historic England