Scheduled Monument: Little Green Moated site (1015807)

DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The moated site of Little Green lies immediately to the north east of the village of Warmington, on the south side of a small brook. The moat is rectangular, measures approximately 45m from north to south and 55m from east to west including the surrounding ditch. The remains of a causeway crosses the ditch to the moat island in the north eastern corner of the site. The moat ditch is up to 3m deep in places with a flat bottom up to a metre wide, and averages 10m in width. On the west side of the moat the ditch is still waterlogged, and there are traces of an outer bank. The moat island is rectangular, has a flat top which is slightly higher than the surrounding land and measures approximately 15m x 20m. In the north west corner of the site lies the remains of a water channel leading from the nearby brook into the moat ditch. This moat is considered to be the site of a house built by Sir Robert Kirkham in the early 16th century and demolished in the late 17th century. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE 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. Little Green is a good example of small moat, once the site of a residence, which is preserved within an existing village location. The site has well preserved earthworks and waterlogged areas with archaeological potential, and also has a raised central moat island which is likely to preserve the pre-moat land surface.

Record last edited

Sep 6 2023 10:56AM