EDO7292 - Moigne Court, Owermoigne; excavation 1971 to 1973

Excavation of this enclosure area by D J Viner and P R Walker in 1971-73 proved that the ditch had been re-cut at least twice and part of one central platform was constructed of limestone and chalk. A stone wall, almost totally robbed, showed evidence that slight timber buildings, possibly open-sided lean-to structures, had been aligned along its north face. On the south a post-hole pattern suggested similar structures. Excavation of a second platform revealed a robbed stone-walled building with chalk floor, about 36m x 8 metres which probably served as a cow-shed or stable. At right angles to this building and separated by a cobbled yard was another stone-walled structure some 27m x 7 metres and divided into a screens-passage, hall, closet, "parlour" and kitchen. The building was identified as the main living-house of a Tudor yeoman farmer which had been constructed in the early 16th century and extensively robbed by the late 17th/early 18th centuries. A stable annexe to the north of the building had accommmodated the household riding horses. Large quantities of 3rd and 4th century pottery and some building debris were found in a 'sondage' (deep trench to investigate stratigraphy) about 100 metres south east of the yeoman farmer's house, and suggested that a substantial structure, possibly a villa, stood in this part of the field. Further evidence of Romano-British material was found sealed beneath the floor of the yeoman farmer's house and included quantities of painted wall plaster, pegged roof-tiles and other building debris; this had apparently been used as packing for the foundations of the yeoman's house in the early 16th century.