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Summary - not yet available

Monument Type(s):

• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• MILL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• MANOR (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Events:

• Excavations at Clopton Bury manor, Croydon in 1933

Protected Status:

• Scheduled Monument 1006883: Deserted village of Clapton (site of) N of Croydon House

Full description

R1, Moated site (Class A 1 (c); TL/302-/488-) being that of the manor house of Clopton, called Clopton Bury; a child was drowned here in 1348 (WM Palmer, op cit 55). The roughly circular moat lies on chalk marl at the foot of the steep chalk scarp. It is 70ft to 90ft in diameter. The ditch on the N side is100ft wide and 5ft to 6ft below the interior, edged to the N by a steep curving face 18ft to 20ft high where springs filling the ditch have caused a recession of the scarp; on the E and W the ditch is 40ft to 50ft wide, 3ft to 4ft deep to the water level and 15ft to20ft across the bottom; on the S side it is dry and nearly straight, 30ft to 40ft wide and 3ft deep with an external bank 50ftwide and 3ft high at the centre. The springs on the N and others breaking out in a gully to the NW run on either side of the enclosed area feeding a stream on the E and a pond, 40ft to 50ft across, on the SW. There was a farm here in the C19 (Downing estate maps 1750, in Downing College; tithe map 1839, TRC; OS 6in 1st ed).
R2, The Manor of Clopton was from an early period in the family of Beresford from which it passed to the Cloptons and successively to several other families until 1698 when it was purchased by John Gape.
O2, Within Clopton DMV. Description of RCHM W Cambs, correct; this is a small manorial site although no building can now be identified on the moat island. Surveyed at 1:2500.
R3, Moat at Clopton Bury Manor Site on mile WSW of Croydon Church, half way down the hill overlooking the Upper Cam Valley, is a deserted moated site, roughly rectangular, measuring about 150ft each way and slightly raised. On the N, towards the slope of the hill, the moat has been of necessity cut deeply into the slope, and on the S a bank has been raised along its outer side to hold up the water, supplied from a spring which still keeps the moat damp. The overflow passed from the SE corner down the slope for 300yds, where it was formerly impounded by an arrangement of earthworks called the Canal, probably to drive a mill, remains of which may be represented by a small moated site at the E end. To the S and W of the manor site are numerous traces of the former village of Clopton which included a church, disused since 1561, which has now disappeared.O3, Excavated in hillside by S Alexander 1960 - 1964.See also RN 01216b - moat. RN 01216 - DMV and cross refs.
Classification: A 1 (c)
Status: Manorial Building:
Occupied: no
Water supply: spring
Associated mill: no
Surface finds: no
Aerial photos: no
Enclosure plan: single
Enclosure type: circular
Enclosure banks: external - on S side only
Wet moat - one side (S)Size: width: 8m - 20m depth: 1m - 10m
Appendages: pond
Ridge and furrow: no

9. The manor was reputed to be capable of withstanding a siege while a market was held adjacent to it

Local reports on the site suggested the presence of brick structures surviving into the 20th century. Reported to include burials, it was suggested they may belong to the church. Lethbridge accordingly excavated several trenches through the mound and adjacent meadow in 1933 but found no trace of structures or burials.

RCHM, 1968, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Cambridgeshire. Volume I. West Cambridgeshire, 78 (Bibliographic reference). SCB18049.

Palmer, 1828, History of Cambridge (Bibliographic reference). SCB6314.

Salzman, L.F (ed), 1948, The Victoria County History of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. Volume 2, 27 - 28 (Bibliographic reference). SCB14649.

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SCB4618.

Untitled Source (Bibliographic reference). SCB7309.

DMV Research Group 12 (Bibliographic reference). SCB4949.

<7> Wilson, S., 2010, Aerial photograph of Clopton deserted medieval settlement. (Aerial Photograph). SCB21831.

<8> Seaman, B.H., Field Investigator Comments, 27/11/1972 (Verbal communication). SCB61886.

<9> Palmer, W., 1933, A History of Clopton, Cambridgeshire. PCAS 33: 3-60, p60 (Article in serial). SCB10133.

Sources and further reading

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