Medieval moat at The Old Rectory (EHER 4578)

Homestead moat at the Rectory, half a mile east of the church. Archaeological monitoring during November 2009 and January 2010 located the northern edge of the moat.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Canfield Moat (NAT). Moat (NR). (1) Homestead moat at the Rectory, half a mile east of the church. <2> April 1966. Field survey. The remains of a sub-rectangular moat in the grounds of the Old Rectory, measuring overall about 100.0m north-south by 60.0m east-west, with arms 8.0m average width. Part of the north arm is extant as a grassy hollow, but the north-west and north-east angles have been filled in. The remainder of the moat has been refilled with water and some widening has been done at the south-west angle. Resurveyed at 1:25 000. <3> <4> July 1975. Field visit. The only remaining section of the east arm was filled in about 1974. Published survey (25") revised. <5> 1977. Field visit. The site falls from west to east and an outer bank was required on the east side The moat is 6m wide on the west, 12m on the south. It is irregular in depth, up to 2m. It is west on the west and south, dry on the north and east. The east side is now filled but is visible as a depression. The site name is given here as Canfield moat. Incomplete, irregular and hummocky. <6> November 2009 and January 2010. Watching brief. Archaeological monitoring was undertaken on foundation trenches excavated prior to the construction of two buildings in the garden of Canfield Moat (a 19th century house that stands on an earlier medieval moated site). The northern edge of the moat was found to the north-west of the house, backfilled with late 19th or early 20th century material, with the western arm of the moat continuing to the north. <7> See also: <8> Area = 0.25