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Summary

Manor Farm stands on pronounced square platform, with traces of moat surrounding. A series of fishponds occur in the stream valley to the south.

Full Description

The site includes the remains of a medieval moated enclosure with separate fishponds and fowling earthworks (see also HER8021; only the moated enclosure and fishponds are covered by HER 471).

The moat consists of a 50m square raised platform with a ramped entrance on the north east side. The original surrounding ditches are currently limited to a short section along the south west side. An irregular pond at the north west angle may be a later addition. The platform contains the upstanding remains of the post medieval manor house (which is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included). A curved outer moat extends to the south east from the ditched south east angle of the moat. This extension partially encloses a square subsidiary building platform and is thought to be part of the original design. The remains of contemporary fishponds can be seen south of the moat along 160m of the Colmworth Brook. These form a series of three ponds of various shapes and forms, two on the north bank and one on the south.

The moat and fishponds are part of Scheduled Ancient Monument No 11528 - No. 11528/01 (moat) and 11528/02 (fishponds).

A Simco, A Simco, Field drawings (with S Coleman and J Wood, 10/4/1984 and 12/6/1984 (Unpublished document). SBD10509.

Bedford Archaeological Society, List of moated sites, Dec 1972 (Unpublished document). SBD10794.

Bedfordshire Magazine, Vol 11, p 264 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10543.

Bedfordshire Magazine, Vol 7, p 86 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10543.

HER plans, Plan tank: plans of HER471 and HER8021 (Plan). SBD10881.

HER Slide Archive, 4955 (Slide). SBD10508.

HER Slide Archive, 5231 (Slide). SBD10508.

OS: TL 15, TL 15 NW 3 (Unpublished document). SBD11100.

South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 15, 1985, Fig 4, p 10 (Article in monograph). SBD10576.

1937, OS 25", 1937, Annotated (Cartographic materials). SBD10816.

Protected Status:

• Scheduled Monument 1013453: Manor Farm Moated Enclosure, Fishponds and Fowling Earthworks
• SHINE: Moated manor and fishponds at Manor Farm, Church End

Monument Type(s):

• FISHPOND (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• MANOR HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events: None recorded

Sources and Further Reading

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.