Monument Type(s):

• FISHPOND (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD) + Sci.Date
• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• MOATED SITE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument and Grade II* Listed Building: A well-preserved and well-documented medieval moated site, in which still stands a late medieval hall house, the Moat House site has been shown by excavation and geophysical survey to be of high archaeological potential.

Related records: None recorded

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA4924 - 1988 WB and resistivity survey for drainage works at the Moat House, Longnor by IGMT
• ESA5223 - 2003 WB on dredging of the moat at Longnor by SCCAS
• ESA5875 - 2004 Evaluation trench for proposed garage at the moathouse, Longnor by Marches Archaeology (Ref: Marches MHL04A)
• ESA5973 - 2004 WB at the Moat House, Longnor by Marches Archaeology
• ESA748 - 1979 building survey at Moat House, Longnor by RCHME
• ESA749 - 1958 excavation at The Moat House, Longnor by Philip Barker
• ESA750 - 1971 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA751 - 1976 field observation by SCC SMR
• ESA752 - 1981 field observation by SCC SMR
• ESA753 - 1987 evaluation trenches in connection with French drain construction at Moat House, Longnor by IGMT
• ESA7083 - 2007? WB at Moat House, Longnor by Ironbridge Archaeology
• ESA9392 - 2020 DBA and building survey in association with extension to the S of Moat House, Longnor by Arrol Architects (Ref: 20/04276/LBC)

Description

Probably site of house of Richard Clerk, who was granted permission by Lord of Longnor to widen moat by 12ft between 1291 and 1298. Excavations by P Barker revealed cobbling at the NW corner of enclosure and a stone-built bank on the inner edge of the north side of the moat. In primary silt on the west side beneath a C19 clay filling was wood debris..from a palisade or bridge, and stratified above the silting were fragments of C13/C14 and later pottery <1a>

House. Late C14 with c.1600 and C17 alterations. Timber framed with plastered infill, partly rebuilt in rendered rubble with painted imitation framing; left-hand end wall rebuilt in dressed grey sandstone and right-hand end wall rebuilt in roughly dressed sandstone and rendered brick; plain tile roof. 1:1:2 framed bays; former open hall of 2 framed bays to left with narrower screens bay and service bay to left. Framing: closely- spaced uprights with 2 rails. 2 storeys and gable-lit attic. Stone ridge stack just off-centre to right with rendered brick shaft and rendered external end stack to right. 3-window front; 2- and 3light mid- to late C19 and C20 wooden and wooden-framed metal casements, ground floor to right with segmental head. C20 nail-studded boarded door off-centre to right with C19 gabled timber framed porch including cusped angle braces and open sides with cast-iron lattice windows. Probable blocked former first-floor window to left with 2 shaped-headed lights and probable blocked inserted first-floor 3-light window to right; evidence of a former probably C16 two-storey porch in front of screens bay off-centre to left (see mortices in frame posts). 220Interior: lower end with large C14 joists, chamfered tiller former screens passage; c.1600 inserted floor in former 2-bay hall with chamfered beams; large c.1600 inserted stack with 2 dressed grey sandstone chamfered Tudor-arched fireplaces; inserted c.1600 moulded doorway in lower end; remains of C14 screen including cusped brace (mortices suggest that this formed one of a pair of open quatrefoil panels flanking central entrance to hall). Two first-floor c.1600 chamfered stone fireplaces; old doors throughout. Fine C14 smoke blackened roof: billet decorated frieze. Trusses have chamfered brackets with moulded capitals, the central hall truss with carved head corbels; moulded main posts and braces to central hall truss with moulded tiebeam, queen struts, collar and cusped v-struts; chamfered arch-braced intermediate collar trusses with cusped v-struts. Sets of 3 chamfered butt purlins with chamfered cusped wind braces; spere truss with queen struts and v-struts. Pairs of purlins with wind braces over lower end. The house was possibly that built for Edward de Acton, whose descendants occupied it from 1377-1610. It probably extended further at each end, possibly incorporating a cross-wing, and formed the centre of a larger group of buildings. The house stands within a large, roughly rectangular moat with a fishpond to the east. V.C.H., Vol. VIII, p.108; B.O.E., p.174; R.C.H.M. report (1974), including photographs, plans and sections <2>

Building survey carried out in 1979 on the Moat House, Longnor. The moat house is considered to be a late medieval hall house of timber framing in close studding with north end rebuilt in stone and south end in brick. The building is now a mixture of two and two and a half storeys in height. <4>

Moated site situated on level, low lying ground. This large moat is rectangular in shape and is generally well preserved. The moat ditch which is waterfilled except at the NW angle, averages c1.5m deep and c8m wide except the S half of the W arm which has been widened eastwards to form a shallow pond up to c 20m wide. At the N edge of this stood a now demolished building on stone pads, two of which are still visible…There were formerly three causewayed entrances to the site…that in the centre no longer traceable..but platforms .. May represent a possible gatehouse…Moat House itself is sited in the NE corner of the island…In the middle of the S half of the island is a large rectangular building platform representing the foundations of a former barn..In the SE section of the arm is.. Wide and shallow ridge and furrow running N/S. Abutting onto the E arm of the moat is a large and well preserved fishpond, still waterfilled, c80m N/S..Both moat and fishpond are naturally filled from springs and the moat is drained by a small stream. M Watson FI 1981 <8>

In 1987 an evaluation exercise was carried out in advance of the construction of a French drain around the perimeter and the building of a southern extension. Four trenches were dug. These demonstrated that archaeological deposits of medieval date survive in the areas investigated. There were post holes suggesting the remains of a previous building on the site, and evidence for the south wall of the original hall. Vestiges of a chamber block may exist beyond this. Footings were revealed at either end of the cross-passage. These were difficult to date, and may vary in date. <9>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, High score as one of 133 Moated sites. <14>
Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, High score as one of 52 Fishponds. <15>
Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Medium score as one of 91 Irregular Open Field Systems. <16>

Scheduled in 2000. Scheduling description: ->

-> The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a medieval moated site and an associated fishpond on the south eastern outskirts of Longnor. The moat surrounds Moat House, a Listed Building Grade II*. A documentary source suggests that the moated site was constructed in the early 13th century when Roger Spuncheaux had timber to fortify his house at Longenaire (Longnor). Between 1291 and 1298 the tenants, Richard and Emma Clerk, were given licence by the lord of the manor of Longnor to widen the moat by 12 feet. Structural timbers from Moat House have been dated by dendrochronology (the technique of dating using tree growth rings) and indicate that the house was constructed about 1467. It is thought that the house was built by Thomas Acton, a leading Shropshire lawyer, who died in 1480. The house originally consisted of a hall, open to the roof, with service rooms to the north and probably other chambers, including a withdrawing room (a solar), to the south. In 1370 Sir Edward Acton was granted a licence for a private oratory (a chapel) at Longnor. The house would have formed the centre of a group of buildings arranged around a courtyard. It is suggested that the area to the west of the house, where building debris is known to exist, was the site of a detached kitchen. A licence for the demolition of such a building was granted in 1646. In the late 16th century the house was substantially altered and early in the following century it was used as a farmhouse. It was converted into two farm cottages in the 19th century and restored as a single dwelling in the late 20th century. ->

-> The moated site occupies a low-lying position on a gentle south east facing slope with extensive views of the surrounding uplands. The moat retains water with the exception of the north western part of its circuit, and defines a subrectangular island 60m east-west by 85m north-south (maximum dimensions). The arms of the moat are between 8m and 12m wide, except to the south west where the arm extends slightly inwards. Material excavated from the moat has been used to raise the south eastern part of the island in order to create a level platform. The earliest large scale Ordnance Survey map (published in 1882) shows three entrance causeways across the moat. The only one to remain extant is that to the west. The same map also shows two buildings which were subsequently demolished -a stone barn in the middle of the southern portion of the island and a timber framed structure next to the western moat arm to the south of the causeway. Earthworks survive to indicate the building platform for the barn, together with two boulders marking the position of part of the north wall. These boulders are included in the scheduling. The location of the demolished structure next to the moat is marked by four stone post pads, which originally supported load bearing timber uprights, and stone wall foundations along its western side. The post pads and stone wall foundations are also included in the scheduling. Further earthworks on the southern half of the island are considered to mark the position of other buildings. ->

-> The site was the subject of an archaeological investigation in 1958 when exploratory trenches were dug. In the trench excavated on the northern side of the island next to the moat the remains of a stone bank were found. Trenches were dug in the north western corner of the island and in one a cobbled surface was discovered. A trench was also dug close to the entrance causeway which crosses the western moat arm. Here the initial silt deposits contained pieces of waterlogged wood, all adze cut, which probably came from the construction of a bridge or a palisade. Later silt deposits were sealed below a layer of boulder clay, deposited during the 19th century. Further archaeological investigations were conducted in 1987 and 1988 around Moat House, prior to the erection of an extension to the southern end of the house. ->

-> A geophysical survey, used to locate buried structural features, together with limited excavation, demonstrated the survival of well-preserved structural remains and associated deposits dating from the medieval period onwards. On the eastern side of the moated site there is a subrectangular water-filled fishpond about 30m wide and 80m long (maximum dimensions).Its size suggests that it was used for storing fish rather than for breeding them, in order to supply markets nearby and for local consumption. The ground that separates the moated site from the fishpond is between 6m and 9m wide and has been raised by up to 0.8m above the level of the surrounding ground to form a level platform. The fishpond is included in the scheduling to preserve the relationship between it and the moated site. ->

-> Moat House and the adjoining garage, fences and associated gates, the surface of the modern driveway, the former pig sty and associated stone-built walls, the former brick-built latrine, the greenhouse, the stone abutments of the timber footbridge across the moat, all ornamental garden features and utility poles are excluded from the scheduling; the ground beneath all these features is, however, included. <17>

Watching brief carried out in conjunction with the excavation of service and foundation trenches for the construction of an extension to the house. A resistivity survey was also carried out. Remains of medieval structures were found to be present, supporting the hypothesis that there were extensions to the house across the passageway. The remains could be part of the original 13th century manor house or an annexe of the 15th century building. <18>

Watching brief carried out in July 2003, on the dredging of the moat surrounding the moat house, Longnor. No significant archaeological features were revealed during the works. The excavated silts produced pottery and glass of 19th and 20th century date. <19>

One trench on the site of a proposed garage was evaluated at Moat House, Longnor, Shropshire, in 2004. A gully of probable medieval date was excavated. A series of undated stakeholes to the west of the gully could be associated with it. Post holes in the west end of the trench are possibly medieval and are probably part of a structure with the posts removed in the 18th century. Soil horizons excavated in the east end of the trench probably represent garden soils of an early post medieval date. Several 19th century features were sealed by a 19th century cobbled yard surface. After this date the area became a garden. <20>

Watching brief carried out in 2004 on the site of a proposed new garage at the Moat House, Longnor. From the results of the watching brief and the previous excavation [ESA 5875] it can be surmised that during probably the 13th century, the upcast from the excavation of the moat was spread over the study area. Earlier remains may lie undisturbed below this 13th century layer. During the medieval and post medieval periods, this area seems to have been an open area with no standing buildings. However, post holes excavated towards the western end of the area could represent an early post medieval wall line or fence. <21>

Detailed description. <22>

This building was dated through the Shropshire Dendrochronology Project, undertaken by Madge Moran and Eric Mercer. A date of 1467 was obtained. <24><25>

Exterior photograph, ground floor plan, 5 sections, 6 interior photographs, detail of intermediate truss, E elevation. <25>

Moat House is a box-framed manor house of very fine quality. Most of the hall, spere truss, screens passage and service end remain, but the solar end or wing is missing. The exterior has plain close-studding, but the interior is lavishly decorated with moulded and jowled posts, embattled ornament, carved heads and cusping. The trusses have a rhythm of one tiebeam truss to two arch-braced collar-beam trusses, and the roof has queen struts and cusped V-struts above, whose cusping combined with that of the principal rafters forms quatrefoils. There are three tiers of cusped windbraces and the roof covering was originally of stone slabs of subquadrate limestone. The house was probably built by Thomas Acton (d. 1480), and two of the carved heads may represent him and his wife, Joan; a third head has been removed. See: VCH Shropshire, Vol. 8 (1968), 108-9 and VAG conference booklet (1982). This short report aims to correct information given in both those publications. (Miles and Haddon-Reece 1993). <26>

Brief description of house, plan and section. <27>

Photograph of exterior. <28>

A design and access statement and heritage impact assessment were prepared in 2020 in accordance with a proposed kitchen extension to the S of the Moat House. This includes a WSI prepared by Nigel Baker for archaeological works to be carried out in association with the proposed foundation work. <29>

Sources

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