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Summary

Elaborate partly moated enclosure around site of medieval manor house, with possible late Saxon origins; later converted into formal gardens with ornamental pools

Monument Types

• ENCLOSURE (?, Late Saxon to Medieval - 870 AD to 1500 AD)
• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1500 AD)
• FORMAL GARDEN (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)
• WATER GARDEN (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

• SHINE: LIA/RB occupation and moated site, Bygrave

Full description

This has been described as a 'pentagonal ditched enclosure round a square moat' <1>, with a 'polygonal outer ditch or moat (perhaps 7 or 8 sides originally) surrounding two surviving sides of what must have been a square enclosure. The latter now has a interior containing a house in different ownership. Inner moat 10-15m across and full of water; outer variable being encroached by ploughing on E where only small ditch 2-3 m across. Some enlargement by owner on SW' <2>.

The earthworks surround the parish church [4299] and the site of Bygrave Place [4057], which appears to have been the medieval manor house. The manorial estate has late Saxon origins, and the church also has late Saxon elements and will have been founded as a proprietorial chapel by the pre-Norman owner of the estate. Whether the outer earthworks preserve a late Saxon estate enclosure is unknown, but at least part of the arrangement is probably the remains of a medieval moat (possibly a double one). The 1847 tithe map <3> shows the trapezoidal outer enclosure lined with shrubberies along the eastern, southern, and part of the western sides. A water-filled ditch was extant from close to the SE corner of the churchyard, around the entire eastern and southern arms, and as far as the end of the trees on the western arm, with a stream running away from the SW corner. Within the enclosure was a formal copse with walk through the centre, south of the 'square moat', a formal canal with three unequal arms. This lay west of a smaller rectangular pond. These features are also shown on the 1877 OS map, although by this date the water surrounding the whole enclosure had largely gone leaving only the NE corner. Intruding across the NW corner of the 'square moat' was a walled garden divided into rectangular plots, with the appearance of a kitchen garden, with a short footpath leading beyond the enclosure to the farmhouse [1914]. The interior of the 'square moat' was planted as an orchard. In the 20th century most of these features survived until the Moat House was built on the site of the walled garden, but the area became increasingly overgrown. The eastern arm of the 'square moat' survives although reduced in width; as does the rectangular pond and other features.

The 'square moat' and the rectangular pond have the appearance of post-medieval formal gardens. The walled kitchen garden may be later. When the house itself [4057] was demolished is unknown, although a formal arrangement which may include the house is shown on the 1766 map <5>. Some of the extensive cropmarks to the east [1653] may also relate to the manor house in the post-medieval period.

HCC Planning Dept, Bygrave manorial site, and cropmark of a ring ditch, PNO 3377 (Aerial Photograph). SHT14681.

HCC (Highways Dept), Bygrave manorial site, and cropmark of ring ditch, PNO 3349 (Aerial Photograph). SHT14653.

Hertfordshire Mercury, 5.7.1902, p7 (cutting) (Serial). SHT4721.

CUCAP, Linear earthworks, and manorial site, Bygrave, PNO 3938 (Aerial Photograph). SHT15210.

CUCAP, Linear earthworks, Bygrave, PNO 3471 (Aerial Photograph). SHT14759.

OS Records (Index). SHT8223.

HCC (Highways Dept), Part of manorial site, Bygrave, PNO 3347 (Aerial Photograph). SHT14651.

CUCAP, Soilmarks of ditched enclosure around moat, Bygrave, PNO 3032 (Aerial Photograph). SHT14254.

Page, W (ed.), 1908, VCH Hertfordshire vol.2, - p102 (Bibliographic reference). SHT9314.

<1> Renn, Derek, 1971, Medieval castles in Hertfordshire, - p16 (Bibliographic reference). SHT9405.

<2> MWT (HCC) site visit, 10.3.1987 (Unpublished document). SHT7226.

<3> Tithe map and award, Bygrave, 1847 (map) (Cartographic material). SHT1377.

<4> OS 25 inch map, 1st edition, 1877 (Cartographic material). SHT8116.

<5> Dury & Andrews, 1766, A topographical map of Hartford-shire, from an actual survey… (Cartographic material). SHT3062.

Sources and further reading

Related records

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