Details

The monument consists of a rare and unusual example of a moated site flanked
on three sides by what limited excavation has proved to be a medieval
garden. The site comprised a trapezoidal island c.83-96m x 76-83m currently
heavily vegetated by tall grass, nettles and thistle, and surrounded by a
predominantly waterlogged moat 12m wide x 2.5m max. depth. Access to the
island is presently via a causeway across the E arm, however, there are
traces of another causeway across the S arm. In the W arm is an oval mound
considered to have carried the pier or abutment of a bridge.
The moat is surrounded on its N, W and S sides by a broad berm or bank and
an outer ditch. On the S side the berm is flat and extends into the modern
field for c.21m to where its 6m wide outer ditch has become flattened.
Along the N side there is a narrower but better defined linear bank 12m
wide, tree covered, and projecting at the NE corner to form a `horn'. Its
outer ditch is still used as a field boundary. The complex in the NW corner
is dominated by an almost circular mound 16m dia x 1.8m high and surrounded
by a silted ditch 3m wide. Immediately S is a lower triangular earthwork.
These features are cut out of the berm forming the W side of the site and
the ditches surrounding them are connected to the moat. The outer boundary
ditch on the W side is flatter and broader than those on the N and S and
resembles a holloway.
Belgrave moat was built at the end of the 13th century by Richard the
Engineer, one of Edward I's leading military engineers and the man
responsible for much of the work on the Welsh castles at the end of the 13th
and into the 14th century. It passed to the family of his daughter by
marriage, but by the end of the 14th century is likely to have been
abandoned as a residence and farmed by a local family. From then on, and
certainly from the beginning of the 17th century, it has not been occupied.
All fences, gates and a concrete inspection chamber are excluded from the
scheduling. The ground beneath all these features, however is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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.

Belgrave moated site remains in good condition and is a rare and unusual
example in England of a medieval moated site and associated garden. The
documentary evidence indicates the monument was created at the end of the
13th century by a royal servant at the time that the medieval English garden
began to flower. Knowledge of gardens of this period is almost entirely
documentary thus the extant example at Belgrave offers considerable
archaeological potential for gaining information of the flora, layout and
other individual elements utilised in creating a medieval garden.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Harvey, J, English Medieval Architects, (1952), 164-5
Turner, R C, Sale, C B, A Medieval Garden at the Belgrave Moat, Cheshire, (1986), 1-19
Other
Darvill, T., MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Moats, (1988)
Stored in the Eaton Estate Office, Badesdale, T, (1737)
Stored in the Eaton Estate Office, Williams, Early-mid 17th century,

Source: Historic England