16th century moat at Chitham's Farm (EHER 7508)

The remains of a rectangular, part-waterfilled, homestead moat surrounding Chitham's North (formerly Chitham's Farm). It measures overall about 80 metres north to south by 60 metres east to west with arms 8 metres wide. The north eastern angle has been partly filled by tipping which extends down the east arm to the original entrance causeway. The features probably dates to the 16th century.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Moat (NR). <1> Homestead moat at Chitham's Farm. <2> Complete, rectangular, on flat site, on hill top. <3> Sketch plan on back MSRG card, traced from OS 25'. <4> May 1953. Field survey. Medieval homestead moat. Extremely well-preserved, masonry revetted. Correct as shown. <5> <6> September 1975. Field survey. A rectangular, part waterfilled, homestead moat surrounding Chitham's North (nameplate) formerly Chitham's Farm. It measures overall about 80.0m north-south by 60.0m east-west with arms 8.0m. wide. The north-east angle has been partly filled by recent tipping which extends down the east arm to the original entrance causeway. It is probably 16th century though much modernised and not outstanding. Published survey (25") revised. <7> 1999. Scheduling. The moated site includes a roughly rectangular island which measures a maximum of 64m north-south by 44m east-west. This is contained by a water filled moat measuring up to 8m wide and at least 2m in depth. The brick revetting is thought to be relatively modern but may have replaced an earlier retaining wall. The north eastern corner of the moat, which has been partly infilled, survives as a shallow earthwork measuring up to 0.4m in depth. A causeway across the eastern arm of the moat is depicted on the 1805 enclosure map of Ramsden Bellhouse and is believed to represent the original entrance to the moat. The site is now scheduled. <8>