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Summary

Homestead moat, 130 yds E of the church

Monument Type(s):

• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Events:

• Surveys at Sawtry SAM 172

Protected Status:

• Scheduled Monument 1006817: Sawtry moat and shrunken medieval village

Full description

S1, Moat 21m square with central platform raised 1,82m above surrounding ground surface. The well preserved moat is partly filled with water. The outline of the moat is irregular and is approximately 10m wide at the broadest point. It is partly wet, The internal platform appears to have a slight bank, is grass covered and supports elms mostly dead.
S2, Homestead moat, 130 yds E of the church;
O4, The moat is situated in pasture and is partly wet. Published survey 25in revised

The moat is much as depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 mapping. It lies approximately 140m east of All Saint's church in an area of land, currently under pasture, that slopes gently south from Tort Hill at 10m above OD.

2. The moat ditch is a constant width of 17m except at the southern arm where it narrows to 8m. It defines a sub-square island between 24m and 28m across that has substantial internal banking on all but the southern sides. Scooped depressions extend westward fr om both the north-west and south-west corners of the moat. At the time of survey the ditch was completely water-filled with only a narrow baulk providing access to the island from the south-east corner. The original water source for the site was not apparent.

A large hollow, probably a fishpond, 15m wide, nearly 40m in length and 0.6m in depth extends northwards from the north west corner of the moat. The southern end of the pond wall has been latterly removed, presumably to facilitate drainage into the moat ditch. Immediately to the north of the moat are two smaller adjacent hollows. One is intact measuring 15m by 26m and 0.5m in depth, but the other, of similar length, has been truncated as the result of the re-alignment of the A1 road. These hollows would seem to be the remains of two stew ponds associated with the moat and fishpond. A narrow channel leading from the intact pond south toward the moat may not be original but rather a later feature cut for drainage.

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SCB4230.

<2> Shiel, D., 1997, Report on Geophysical Survey: Sawtry Cambridgeshire (Unpublished report). SCB19749.

<3> RCHM, 1999, Surveys at Sawtry SAM172 (Unpublished report). SCB19343.

<4> Seaman, B.H., Field Investigator Comments, 2/12/70 (Verbal communication). SCB61886.

Sources and further reading

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