1920s fishpond and site of medieval moat at Howbridge Hall (EHER 8412)

The possible site of a medieval moat. The putative moat ditches were filled in the 1920s and the only visible indication of the potential moated site is now the raised platform upon which Howbridge Hall now stands.

Remains of a moat were visible here until approximately 1890 when the moat was filled in. Sited from 1922 OS 1:2500 (Note an adjacent water feature was not on earlier maps and is probably modern). <1> <2> Rodwell sees the 16th century Howbridge Hall lying within and against one side of a sub-circular enclosure, this is defined for more than half its circuit by the road leading to the hall; adjoining the hall on the north-east is a second enclosure of rectangular outline, the latter moated; three sides of the moat are recorded on early maps and are still detectable on the ground. The north-west side of the rectangular enclosure is marked by a canalised stream in a boggy hollow; the north-east side is now only a very slight earthwork, but was a water-filled feature in 1874 and the south-east side is still distinctly visible as a hollow. Within the sub-circular enclosure is a tiny rectangular moat with a causeway entrance at the north-east corner. Overall the moat measures 60m x 25m and the island defined only 38m x 12m. Rodwell states that the moat still partially survives as a pond. He interprets the moat as a 17th or 18th century garden embellishment. <3> September 1976. Field survey. The only evidence for the former existence of the moat is the raised platform on which the Hall stands amid ground sloping gently NE to a stream. The Owner stated that the ornamental pond to the west of the house was reconstructed in the 1920's from a former fish pond. The Tithe Map (<4>) shows the fishpond with a central island but gives no indication of a moat around the house. <5> <6> Original HER entry merged with NRHE data transfer.