Details

The monument includes the surviving extent of the moated site, fishpond and
associated water management features located on low lying ground about 2.5km
south west of Hartpury village. The eastern and part of the southern arms of
the moat survive as a waterfilled ditch 12m wide and between 0.25m and 0.75m
deep. It is connected to a pond, believed to have been a fishpond, by a leat
visible as a depression leading from the southern arm of the moat. The
remaining arms of the moat have been infilled, but will survive as buried
features. The moat defines a rectangular island 74m north-south and a maximum
of 24m east-west. Hartpury Court, a Listed Building Grade II of mid-19th
century date, stands on the island and is known to have been built to replace
an earlier dwelling. To the north of the house is a Roman Catholic chapel
dating to 1830, a Listed Building Grade II, which is now used as a farm store.
Hartpury Court, which was also known as Abbots Court, was the property of
St Peter's Abbey, Gloucester, until the Dissolution in 1539, when it became
Crown property. In 1547 the property was leased to Richard Pates, Recorder of
Gloucester, after which date there are no further records of the site until
1794, when the house was used as a convent for nuns from France.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are Hartpury
Court, the former Roman Catholic chapel and its brick extension to the east,
the tarmac and stone surfaces outside the house which are used for car
parking, the breeze-block stable block at the northern end of the island, the
stone wall around the church, the stone and brick walls around Hartpury Court,
which are Listed Grade II, all post and wire and wooden post fences, metal and
wooden gates and gateposts, the concrete surface of the yard to the south of
the stable block, and the pylons at the northern end of the moat; the ground
beneath all these features is, however, 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.

The moated site at Hartpury Court survives well, despite the partial infilling
of the moat and the presence of later buildings. Buried deposits on the island
are expected to include the remains of medieval structures, and will contain
archaeological information relating to the construction and subsequent
occupation and use of the moated site. Within the moat, buried and possibly
waterlogged deposits will preserve archaeological remains relating to the
occupation and use of the site, along with organic material which will provide
information about the economy of the site and the local environment during the
medieval period. The history and ownership of the site is reasonably well
documented, and it relates to other adjacent buildings of the medieval period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Browne, A L, 'Trans. of the Bristol and Glos. Arch. Society' in Richard Pates, MP for Gloucester, , Vol. LVI, (1934), 205

Source: Historic England