HER 6041 DESCRIPTION:- Site of Moated Manor House, 100 yards south-west of Staunton church. If any earthworks remained they have been destroyed by agricultural building works. {Source Work 299.} The site (possibly moated) of the manor-house of Staunton lies in a field called 'the Castle Meadow' 100 yards south-west of Staunton church. The field is rectangular in shape and is bounded on the south-west side by a deep ditch. By the time of Elizabeth the buildings were in ruins and by the mid 19th century nothing was visible above ground. Excavations took place on the site c.1881-2 (see SMR 6002 for details). {Source Work 4249.} A small, rectangular field called 'the Castle Meadow' which was thought to be the site of a Roman 'Speculum' is in fact the site of the old manor house of Staunton. During the reign of Elizabeth I it was described as "utterly decayed and nothinge remayninge but broken old walls and a barn, with one orchard, called 'Court Orchard,' adjoyninge to the same howse." That Court Orchard is doubtless the piece of ground now (1881-2) a garden plot, and a meadow belonging to the rectory, lying on the south-east of the Castle Meadow, whilst the Castle Meadow has the gardens of the almshouses to the north-west. {Source Work 6886.} The castle ditch, behind 'Woodland View' and the Almshouse - still visible. The only remains of the Manor House at Staunton, held by Earl Godwin, Father of Harold. {Source Work 493.} The manor house of the Staunton family, recorded in 1295, stood in the village on land later called Court Orchard, south of Staunton Fam. It was in ruins by 1579 and some remains were still visible c.1710. A feature known as Castle Ditch in 1698 near the west end of Court Orchard, was possibly the remains of a moat. {Source Work 3710.} Field name 'Court Orchard' is recorded on the rectified copy of the Staunton tithe map and apportionment of 1845. {Source Work 6634.} 1953 - Discribed by C. Scott-Garrett in "Ramblings of a Dean Archaeologist" on 31st December 1953 as "...Then we had a look at the site near the Church Farm which looks like an ancient mound or ‘castle’ site. The southern side is a natural cliff or an old quarry face. Below is a field called the CASTLE FIELD." 1970 - The site occurs on a gentle south-facing slope. There are no traces of any building within Castle Meadow and the ditch on the south-west side is a hollow-way carrying a farm track. {Source Work 4249.} 1983 - The site was visited by J. Colombo of Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service who reported that nothing could be seen of the moated manor. {Pers. comm. J. Colombo.} 1998 - Site visit by Dean Archaeological Group. No remains seen. {Source Work 5603.} It is unclear from the various sources where exactly the manor house of Staunton stood. The area digitised on COGIS is a field called Court Orchard. Some references say that the manor house stood in a field called 'Castle Meadow' c.100 yards south-west of the church and adjacent to a 'Court Orchard', in which case the area digitised is incorrect, and the correct location would be slightly to the west. {Pers. comm. L. Butler.} |