More information : [Centred Sk 8663 8091] Moat Farm on site of Bishop's Palace [GT] (1)
The ancient palace of the Bishops of Lincoln stood on this
moated site until the property was alienated by Bishop Henry
Holbeach during the Reformation. (2)
There is ample documentary evidence for the existence of a
Bishop's residence at Stow Park in the 13th century. In 1336
Bishop Burghersh had licence to crenellate his manor-house of
Stow Park.
Armstrong's map of Lincolnshire (1776-8) shows `ruins' here,
but the remains had disappeared by 1882. (3-7)
Moat Farm shows no structural evidence of an early building.
The moat has been almost levelled at the N.W., the rest is
overgrown but still water-filled. There are indications of old
fishponds to the north.
Published survey (25" 19) revised. (8)
Survey of 16.2.62 correct. (9)
SK 866 809. Bishop's Palace (site of) at Moat Farm, Stow Park.
Scheduled no. LI/266. (10)
The moated site of the Bishop's Palace, recorded by Authorities
1-10 and surveyed by RCHME was seen as an earthwork and mapped from
poor quality air photographs as part of Lincolnshire NMP:-
The moat ditch defines a rectangular asymmetric enclosure 100m by
110m, centred at SK 8663 8090; an outer bank is clearly visible to
the east and west. The moat lies on the south side of a shallow
valley. The outer banks probably acted as dams for the creation of
fishponds on the north side of the moat. (a) A probable outer
enclosure, 110m by 110m and largely defined by a ditch, but in some
places by a bank, was seen as a cropmark centred at SK 8658 8103,
against the north side of the moat. The relationship between this
outer enclosure and the probable line of the Medieval deer park
boundary (see SK 88 SE 10) is unclear. A series of boundaries
approach the outer enclosure from the north; the most easterly,
centred at SK 8659 8111, continues on the north side of Tillbridge
Lane, probably forming an approach to the moated site. However,
not all the features here appear to be contemporary, and some may
be related to the deserted settlement of Stow Park (SK 88 SE 11).
(Morph No. LI.680.6.1-6)
This description is based on data from the RCHME MORPH2 database.
(11-11a)
The remains of the medieval palace of the Bishops of Lincoln at Stow Park. The site lies on the south side of a stream, with the earthwork remains of a series of medieval fishponds lying to the north and east of the moated site of the palace. The main palace buildings lay on the moated island, which is sub-rectangular in plan and raised above the surrounding ground level. The substantial moat is crossed by 2 causeways; one to the north, which is original, and one to the north-east, which is narrower and possibly later in date. The moat itself is in turn surrounded by an outer bank. North of the moat, a series of broad depressions lying along the course of the stream indicate the location of a set of associated ponds. It is thought that these may have formed an ornamental water feature, enhancing the approach to the palace, as well as being used for keeping fish. There is some documentary evidence that they also served as a swannery. The ponds to the east of the moated site were smaller and are believed to represent breeding tanks, where the fish were raised. Scheduled. (12) |