Medieval moat or drainage ditch at Pollards Farm (EHER 1206)

Possible medieval moat which a 1975 Ordnance Survey visit suggested was more like a drainage ditch.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Possible homestead moat. <1> Very imperfect moat surrounds Pollards Farm, Bardfield Saling. <2> <3> Probably to be associated with the family of Thomas Pollard (1378). <4> April 1975. Field survey. Extending around the house is a rectangular fragmentary drainage enclosure measuring overall about 80.0m south-west to north-east, by about 40.0m transversely. This pattern is common to farms in this region, there being no apparent intention to form a protective homestead moat. The average width of the ditch on the south side of the enclosure is only about 2.0m. No tithe map available. <5> <6> 1977. Field visit. On edge of village, rectangular, incomplete. Moat is 6-8m wide, 1-1.5m deep to the water. Moat expanded to form a pond. Dry depression, 7m x 0.5m, to the north, suggests an outer ditch. <7> Tracing from sketch by Stokes from site visit on back of SMR sheet and on back of MSRG card. <8> Area = 0.18