Possible medieval moat at Parsonage Farm, Great Sampford (EHER 1530)

Supposed remains of a moat at Parsonage Farm, now considered to be unlikely. South-east of the house are two irregular farm ponds, and to the west are two sub-rectangular ponds, with a narrow dry ditch linking them, with another ditch forming the south west boundary of the orchard. A shallow ditch running north west to south east through the orchard had recently been filled with the dredgings from the two farm ponds, when visited in 1977. It is considered unlikely that the features once formed a moat.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Moat at Parsonage Farm, Great Sampford. <1> <2> Incomplete, irregular, 6m wide, 1m deep, wet. Two fish ponds. Entrance by a causeway. <3> Moat seems to be merely an arrangement of ponds and ditches. <4> in <1> Sketch plan on back of MSRG card. <5> Three photos. <6> Area = 0.7 December 1977. Field survey. South-east of the house are two irregular farm ponds, and to the west are two sub-rectangular ponds, 29.0 by 9.0m and 47.0 by 7.0m. A narrow dry ditch links these last two, and another forms the south-west boundary of the orchard. A shallow ditch visible on OS air photographs <7> running north-west to south-east through the orchard has been recently filled with the dredgings from the two farm ponds. It is unlikely that these features once formed a moat, and no moat details or names are recorded on the Tithe Map <8>. Published 25" survey correct. <9> See: <10>