Monument Type(s):

• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• MOATED SITE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• MONASTIC DWELLING? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Earthwork survey and analysis of LiDAR data identified a rectangular earthwork, interpreted as a moated site. This may have formed part of a double moated site, with the Scheduled remains to the NW (PRN 01171). They are suggested as representing a high status residence, perhaps owned by the priors of Bromfield, although this interpretation remains tentative.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA7414 - 2014 Geophysical and topographical survey at Bromfield by University of Exeter

Description

Earthwork survey was carried out to the East of the moated site known as Bromfield Grange (PRN 01171) in 2014, as part of a project exploring the the archaeology of the 12th century anarchy. Documentary sources had identified a possible castle site at Bromfield. Leland, writing in the 16th century, was clearly aware of a tradition telling of a castle at Bromfield, and identified it as the moated site now known as Bromfield Grange. Leland’s association is almost certainly mistaken, but the possibility that the moated site was developed on an earlier elite residence cannot be wholly dismissed. ->

-> Immediately adjacent to the moated site, a spoil heap precluded survey in this area. However, analysis of LiDAR imagery (reproduced in report) in this area identified a square enclosure; this feature was only partially identified by the measured earthwork survey as it was obscured by the spoil heap. The feature consisted of a slightly raised bank forming a square enclosure with a break in the earthwork in the south-eastern corner. ->

-> The form of the feature is consistent with a medieval moated site, interpreted as indicating a double moated site. Identification of two moated sites in close proximity as at Bromfield is sometimes interpreted as evidence of two phases of occupation, with a smaller antecessor site succeeded by a more extensive and elaborate example. More often, however, it appears that both moated enclosures were utilised contemporaneously with one site occupied by a residence and the other used for other buildings, gardens or orchards. The double moated enclosures at Bromfield most probably fit into this pattern of usage, comprising an elite residence most likely occupied from thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. The identification of the more prominent moated site as a monastic grange therefore appears erroneous, as it seems highly unlikely that such a high status monument would have been occupied and utilised by lay brethren for agricultural purposes. More probable is that the Bromfield moats together formed the private home of a wealthy lord and perhaps patron of the monastery, or perhaps more likely still it represents the former residence of the priors of Bromfield. <1>

This interpretation requires further fieldwork to substantiate. It is possible that it represents a garden feature, part of the formal garden earthworks recognised here. <2>

Sources

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