Monument record 112/0/30 - Medieval Moat

Moat within the grounds of Lyveden New Building. It comprises a rectangular island surrounded by a wide ditch, which is only visible on the northwest side. Parts of the southwest side existed until recently but were destroyed. The southeast and northeast sides were filled in when the late 16th century gardens in which it lies were constructed. Medieval and post-medieval pottery, glazed and unglazed roof tiles as well as building material are scattered over the interior.

{1} The 'island' (within Tresham's Water Orchard) has been ploughed but is now heavily weed covered. Some medieval sherds were seen.

{2} SP 98288545. Md building material, glazed and unglazed roof tiles, with burned limestone and sherd scatter found within 'moated' enclosure (SP 98 NE 5).

{3} Moat immediately east of the double moat [112/0/29], of which it may form a part. The site comprises a rectangular island surrounded by a wide ditch, but only the ditch on the north-west side now remains, much mutilated. Parts of ther south-west side existed until recently but have been destroyed. The soouth-east and north-east sides were apparently filled in when the late C16th gardens in which it lies were constructed. Medieval and post medieval pot sherds, glazed and unglazed roof tiles as well as building material are scattered over the interior.

{5} Part of the moat appears to be still waterlogged at the end of the C19th.

{6} The most striking feature showing in both the magnetometer and resistivity surveys is the wide rectilinear anomaly in the northwest of the Moated Orchard. This is c. 10m across where best defined at its eastern corner, perhaps forming an enclosure 50m by at least 40m. Further anomalies at the eastern corner and further south have also been detected in both surveys and presumably reflect further
related features. The feature showed up as a high resistance anomaly in the resistivity survey indicating that it is perhaps filled with rubble.

{7} Towards the southern end of the trench a broad band of darker clay loam was revealed which delineates the limits of the uppermost backfill of the former moat. It indicates that at its widest surviving point the feature was 8.6m to 8.8m wide. The upper fill contained large quantities of limestone along with ceramic roof and floor tile as well as domestic pottery. All dated to the mid to late C16th possibly indicating the date of the final phase of backfilling, or posisbly that a ground level containing features of that period had been used as a levelling layer. This suggests that the moat had been backfilled immediately prior to the creation of the late C16th garden.
A single spit of soil was removed from the entire width of the backfilled moat revealing that its upper edges were gently shelved. The outer southern edge showed no signs of revetment, whilst the inner northern edge revealed either deliberate strengthening with limestone or possibly a dump of waste stonework.
Attempts were made to auger the moat to establish its depth and to test for waterlogged deposits, however the presence of large quantities of limestone within the backfill prevent this. Although the deepest auger was of 0.45m. It is proposed that the original depth should be between two and three metres at this point.
It is worth noting that no evidence for structures within the moated area was found within Trench 1.

<1> Brown, A.E. (Ed.), 1969, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1967/68 (Medieval), 19-20 (unchecked) (Article). SNN57956.

<2> Brown, AE & and Taylor, CC, 1973, The Gardens at Lyveden, p.154-60 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN55282.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1975, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.8 Site 20 (checked) (Series). SNN77379.

<4> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1880s, First Edition OS 6 Inch Mapping Series (18SE), (checked) (Map). SNN105804.

<6> Malone, S J, 2011, Land at Lyveden New Bield, Northamptonshire: Geophysical Survey (Report). SNN110621.

<7> Prentice J., 2011, An Archaeological Evaluation Within the Moated Orchard at Lyveden New Bield, Northamptonshire, September 2011, p.12-13 (checked) (Report). SNN107897.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 6:19PM