More information : (SJ 9055 2030) Old Marl Pit (NAT). (1)
"Homestead Moat. Coppenhall Gorse. Oval with various outlying works; dry. Outside measurements: 450 ft by 400ft. Altitude 353 ft". (2)
"The Moats". Site of Manor House. "Including all embankments, causeways and ditches, the site covers some 30 acres....at the head of a valley to the north-west of the plateau on which Hyde Lea village stands." An inquest of 1372 refers to the manor of Hyde containing a messuage and two fish ponds. Apparently the Manor House had been granted away by 1387.
The site was surveyed by Simpson in 1951. He suggests that the grass covered rubble mounds, forming an L-shaped plateau in the centre, represent the remains of buildings. There are faint indications of a bridge on the east side. Depressions to the NE and E are thought to have contained fishponds. Excavations in the central area indicated 13th/14th-century occupation. Finds included pottery, a coin of Edward I, animal bones etc. (3)
(SJ 9056 2029). A large moated site on the Keuper Marl (1" Geological Survey Map) on the low ground at the head of the Rising Brook. The enclosed area is of an irregular pentagonal plan. The moat is now dry but has a marshy bottom from which springs the Rising Brook: it has an outer bank on the west side and at the NE. The island has been dug into slightly on the SE and here the outer scarp of the moat is absent, perhaps quarried away by old Marl workings.
`A'. A large fishpond immediately NE of the moat. It is dammed by a large pond bay at its lower end and the outer bank of the moat served to retain the water at its upper end. Now dry.
`B'. 400m further along the Rising Brook the valley is again dammed by a large pond-bay to form another fishpond, now dry and occupied by a copse known as the `Drumble'. (4)
The inclusion of "park" in eleven field names surrounding the site, indicates an important early dwelling. (5)
"The bank on the NE side of the moat, separating it from the fishpond has recently been strengthened with additional material, and that part of the moat adjacent to it contained water at the time of investigation. Ploughing has destroyed the bank on the west side of the moat.
Published survey (1:2500) revised. The pond bay at SJ 9106 2055 has been surveyed at 1:1250. (6)
(SJ 9057 2030) Moat (NR)
(SJ 9065 2038) Fish Pond (NR)
(SJ 9107 2055) Pond Bay (NR) (7)
SJ 9057 2030. Hyde Lea. Rescue excavations were carried out on this extensive moated site by C Hill for Stafford Borough Council when the farmer decided to deepen and widen the moat. Waterlogged medieval deposits were excavated; large timbers were recovered which probably formed part of a medieval bridge. (8)
SJ 9056 2029. Coppenhall Gorse/Hyde Lea. Listed as a medieval moat. (9)
The moat lies almost at the head of the valley of the Rising Brook, which rises only a short distance to the south and flows into the south-east corner of the moat. The moat has been formed by damming the valley, the dam forming the outer edge of the moat's north-east arm. This dam is now breached by a modern cut, through which the Rising Brook continues down the valley, but the moat itself retains a shallow depth of water probably as a result of the dredging recorded by auth 8 in c1980. Some 100m further downstream another dam (`A' of auth 4) across the valley would originally have retained a pond immediately adjacent to the moat, but this dam is likewise now breached and the pond dry. This pond would formerly have been over a hectare in surface area, but it it has been infilled somewhat by ploughing of the field to the north since auth 6 last revised the OS Antiquity Model in 1974. Otherwise, both dams and the floor of the pond are under pasture.
The moat itself may properly be described as sub-rectangular, measuring lip to lip some 130m N-S by 100m E-W excluding the south-east corner which has been widened out. The width of the arms is fairly constant at c20m except on the north where the central island steps down creating a low-lying shelf some 15-25m wide running back from where the inner edge of the moat should be. The surface of this shelf is just above the present level of water in the moat, but if as seems likely the water level was originally higher then the shelf would have been submerged. This makes its purpose unclear, and it is possible it may be due to later quarrying. However, against this the earthwork form of the shelf is more regular than might be expected with quarrying, and although early map evidence is difficult to interpret satisfactorily, it is likely that the feature already existed by 1880-2 (10a); certainly the feature existed by 1958 (Antiquity Model in NMR) and so cannot be simply a product of the dredging recorded c1980. In addition it perhaps bears comparison with the widening out of the south-east corner of the moat. Although it has been suggested that this too is due to quarrying (auth 4), when looked at closely its regularity of form makes such an explanation less convincing. Furthermore, the southern end of the dam forming the outside of the north-east arm of the moat curves round to the east mirroring the north side of this widening of the moat, suggesting the two are contemporary; certainly this widening predates 1880-2 (10a), and although not depicted as such on the 1851 Tithe Award Map, the pattern of field boundaries shown is suggestive of it being already in existence by that time too (10b).
Because of the step down along its northern edge, the central island within the moat is more square than rectangular, measuring a maximum of c65m E-W by 75m N-S. It is currently afforested by a conifer plantation, and a brief perambulation failed to locate any evidence of the possible building remains observed by auth 3. It is accessed by a causeway midway down the western arm, but this appears relatively modern. No sign was seen of auth 3's possible bridge on the east, but an original approach from this direction is perhaps made likely by the existence of a broad, flat-topped bank running away from the widening of the moat's south-east corner (the scarp defining the south side of this feature on the published OS maps post 1958 is shown sloping the wrong way - see Antiquity Models in NMR). This bank seems best interpreted as a `causeway', although against this is the fact that it terminates suddenly some 80m east of the moat. However, it does run on from, and its surface is at the same level as, the broad flat top of the dam holding back the north-east side of the moat, suggesting that the dam also served as a causeway across the valley leading visitors from the north to a bridgehead situated on the east arm of the moat. If correct, these suggestions about former access would also provide a plausible explanation for why both the north side and south-east corner of the moat have been widened: so as to impress any visitor to the site with views of the residence on the island across large sheets of water before arriving at the bridgehead. With this possibility in mind, the fishpond to the east of the dam/causeway across the valley would originally have had a secondary, ornamental, function also.
Another pond formerly lay further down the Rising Brook valley, retained by a second pond bay (`B' of auth 4). This, too, is now dry, the dam being breached by a modern cut. The dam itself is massive, although now overgrown and in deciduous woodland. The original extent of the pond behind it is unclear, but (as suggested by auth 4) it may have covered an area similar to that now occupied by the copse known as the Drumble. The moat and dams are group centred to SJ 9708 2039.
The earthwork evidence would certainly support the identification of the site as of manorial rather than homestead status. In this regard, its equation with the site of the caput of the manor of the Hyde, as suggested by auth 3, seems sensible. This is further corroborated by the earthwork evidence for two ponds on the site tying in with the documentary evidence for the manor having two `stews' in the 14th century. In addition, Hyde manor is known to have had a deer park, first mentioned in 1372, and again in 1403-4 when the manor reverted to the Crown during the minority of the heir of the late Edmund, Earl of Stafford (10c); Hyde Park may be located to the area immediately south of this moat on the basis of field name evidence (auth 5, and SJ 92 SW 103).
The moat was visited in connection with fieldwork undertaken as part of RCHME's Stafford Castle Survey, although no survey work was undertaken. (10)
Listed as a strong house by Cathcart King. (11) |