Details

The monument includes a moated site and two fishponds. The moated site
comprises a roughly 50m square island surrounded by a waterlogged moat
measuring between 10m and 15m wide and up to 3m deep. The island is partially
enclosed by a substantial bank on the south and east sides, measuring up to 2m
high and interpreted as the site of a wall or palisade. Platforms in the
western half of the island indicate the sites of buildings while, at the
south-east corner, there is a level area interpreted as a courtyard. A
channel leading north from this courtyard opens, at the north-east corner of
the island, into a filled-in fishpond measuring 9m from north to south by 5m
from east to west. A sluice leads from the north-west corner of the pond into
the north arm of the moat. The channel entering the pond at its south-west
corner indicates the position of a drain. On the north side, the moat is
divided from Stanley Brook by a substantial outer bank. However there is an
outflow channel linking the moat and the brook at the north-east corner of the
former. The moat is fed by a spring to the south, the water entering via a
large embanked fishpond which is now largely silted up and measures c.45m from
east to west by 20m from north to south. The earthworks around the fishpond
extend into outer banks which follow the south and east sides of the moat.
Access onto the island was via a 7m wide causeway across the east arm of the
moat.

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 moated site in Moat Wood is a well preserved example of a substantial
manorial moat with associated fishponds. Although somewhat disturbed by
scrub, the monument retains the buried remains of buildings and other features
throughout and well preserved organic and environmental remains will survive
in the waterlogged deposits of the moat and two fishponds.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Cox, J C, The Churches of Derbyshire, (1879)

Source: Historic England