Medieval to post-medieval moat and fishpond at Starling's Green, Clavering (EHER 3903)

Homestead moat and fishpond.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Moat. Fishpond to west. <1> A subrectangular homestead moat measuring 58m north-south and 54m east-west with arms 12m wide. All arms are waterfilled and the level is retained by a bank on the north and east side. The interior is raised 0.8m from the surrounding ground level but no trace of a building was found. Road improvements have encroached upon the south arm. A waterfilled fishpond is centred at TL 46043100. <2> Homestead moat south-east of Starling's Green, rectangular, with a fishpond, now dry, west of it. <3> The name is known from 1484 and is probably to be associated with Robert Starlyng and his family. <4> A document of 1332-1333 describes the making of part of the homestead moat at Starlyng's Green. <5> <6> According to OS 1950 the fishpond is hardly worth the name. <7> Sketch plan on back MSRG card. <8> The south arm was partly infilled during road improvements in 1921. <9> April 1950. Field survey. South arm of moat has been modified, otherwise correct as shown on 6" and in good condition. The fishpond is very small and insignificant, wet at present. Correct as shown on 6" sheet at TL 46043101. <10> February 1975. Field survey. A sub-rectangular homestead moat which measures overall 58.0m north-south by 54.0m east-west, with arms 12.0m wide. All arms are waterfilled, the level being retained by a bank on the north and east side. The interior is raised 0.8m from the surrounding ground level, but no trace of a building was found. Road improvements have encroached on the south arm. A waterfilled fishpond is centred at TL 46043100. Published survey (25") revised. <11> 1990. Watching brief. In 1990 a watching brief was undertaken at Starling's Green moat, where three sides of the moat had been cleared out with a mechanical digger. On the west side, in the bottom of the moat a linear strip of white clary with a large quantity of chalk mixed in with it was visible. It seems probable that this is a natural feature as no cuts were visible in the side of the moat. No finds were present. Also visible at the base of the section cut across the moat was a 50cm thick deposit of black humic material. <12> The boundary surrounding the moat continues on the opposite side of the new road and was visible as a cropmark and was mapped. <13> See also: <14> - <16>