Monument record MDO151 - Homestead Moat, Beaminster

(ST 50180040) Moat (GT) (1)

A homestead moat, of irregular form and incomplete. (2)

Correct though the incompleteness of the moat is doubtless due to its partial destruction.
The remains consist of from A-B - the weak grass-covered remains of an outer bank. B-C - no visible trace. C-D - a pronounced cutting now dry. D-E - a sludge filled moat, maximum width 10.0 m, maximum depth 2.4 m. At D there is a probably modern causeway across the moat.
The buildings in the interior are farmsteads, with no indication of antiquity. (3)

This moat was obviously constructed prior to the road to the road to the north, for it is cut by this road at point E. Since the road runs to the adjacent farm, which is of 17th c date - it follows that the classification of Medieval is probably correct. (4)

On the W side 40.0 m of the now dry moat survives, much having been filled in in recent years. It averges 0.8 m deep. The SEside is represented by an earth retaining bank 2.0 m high the ditch being infilled. The presumed course of the north side is covered by a road leading to the 17th cent Marsh Farm.

OS 25" survey revised. (5)

Approximately 1/3rd of the irregular moat now remains and it is difficult to assess whether it ever described a complete circuit. The remaining section is approximately 10m wide and 3-4m deep, the increased depth at the south west due to a raising of the internal platform at this point. The site is now overgrown. No evidence was found to locate either the original site entrance or the sluices and their associated earthworks. The only visible earthworks being a banked enclosure to the west of the site. No documentary evidence for dating ownership of occupation has been found. (6)

The moat lies immediately south west of Marsh Farm. The bank on the south east is as described on previous O.S. card. The west and south west parts of the moat are very overgrown. On the south west side, the ditch has recently been deepened by the insertion of a drainage ditch. On the west beyond the lip of the ditch a timber walled silage clamp has been constructed. Upcast from this work may have been thrown onto the west side of the ditch. Dense vegetation, dumping and deepening make precise depth measurements difficult to ascertain.
However, where best preserved, the ditch is probably at least 1m deep. The north side of the moat does not survive, however, the pasture field north of the road is boggy and irregular, perhaps indicating the former existence of the north course. Marsh Farm and the moat aresituated in an area which is cleft and hummocky perhaps representing land slip and water erosion. (6)

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1903 (Map). SWX1197.

(ST 50180040) Moat (GT)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 21 (Monograph). SDO97.

'(4) HOMESTEAD MOAT, 1½ m. E.S.E of the church and W. of Marsh Farm, is of irregular form and is incomplete.'

<3> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 18-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<4> Colquhoun, F D, Field Investigators Comments FDC, F2 FDC 24-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SWX2609.

<5> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F3 NVQ 16-NOV-71 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<6> Upton, K L, 1978, The Moated Sites of Dorset, 5 (Unpublished document). SDO14051.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 195915 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 21 2022 1:38PM