Monument record MDO4798 - Moat at Parsonage Farm, Stourpaine

The moat is part of a complex of earthwork remains to the south of Parsonage Farm on the southern edge of Stourpaine village. It survives as a rectangular level platform with a peripheral bank surrounded by a partially in-filled ditch with a length of external bank on the western side. The moat may have been the site of an abandoned manor house. The moat is visible as earthworks on lidar imagery and aerial photographs and was digitally plotted during the Middle Dorset Stour AIM Project. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

Adjoining a farmyard close to Stourpaine church is a small square "entrenchment" with sides of about 30 yds, perhaps the site of the manor house, although local tradition alleges it to be an old mill-bay. In the same field further south is a small circular embankment said to be a cockpit. <2>

The moat survives as a rectangular level platform with a peripheral bank measuring 7m wide and 1.8m high surrounded by a partially in-filled ditch up to 7m wide and 3m deep with a length of external bank on the western side. The moat may have been the site of an abandoned manor house. The north eastern corner of the moat is crossed by a track. <4>

Listed as a possible castle. <6>

The moat is visible as earthworks on lidar imagery and aerial photographs and was digitally plotted during the Middle Dorset Stour AIM Project [16, 17].

National Monuments Record, 17-NOV-2005, NMR 24132/05 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18857.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1969 (Map). SWX1540.

<2> Hutchins, J, 1861, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. Volume 1. 3rd edition, 305 (Monograph). SDO12569.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1900, Ordnance Survey Object Name Book reference revision 1900, 20 (Unpublished document). SDO16339.

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, 19-DEC-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

‘The area centred ST 859093 has many surface irregularities which consist of minor depressions, banks and scarps, and some vague platforms which probably represent building sites in an area of Medieval depopulation. The site of the manor house and moat is a square level platform with no sign of masonry or foundations. It is situated on a slight west-facing slope, so that the moat is deeper on the east than the west. The moat, which has been much damaged, is 7.0m wide by between 1.5m and 3.0m deep, and the upcast from it has been used to form an inner bank about 7.0m wide by up to 1.8m high. Immediately south of the moat is an oval earthwork formed by a bank about 7.0m wide by 0.5m high, with an outer ditch 6.0m wide and 0.3m deep. This, and an enclosure bank to the east (see illust) and a bank and ditch forming the south angle of the area, are all doubtless connected with Medieval occupation. The relative ages of the moat and oval earthwork could not be determined, and there is no evidence that the moat was ever a mill bay as suggested by Hutchins.’

<5> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 262 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(9) MOAT AND ENCLOSURE (860093), lie S. of Stourpaine Church, near the place where the Iwerne joins the Stour.
The moat (class A2(b)), (fn. 2) formerly with a wet ditch surrounding a rectangular island, occupies the N. third of the site. The N. side and the N. third of the E. side are almost completely filled in and their alignment is only marked by a scarp, 2½ ft. to 3 ft. high, along the edges of the island. The rest of the E. side and all of the S. and W. sides are bounded by a deep wide ditch, now dry. A pond covers the N.W. corner. An external bank about 1 ft. high occurs along the W. side. The interior of the island is flat and has no features apart from a modern spoil heap in the S.E. corner; no entrance or causeway is visible.
Adjoining the S. side of the moat are the remains of a rectangular banked enclosure of about 2 acres. It is bounded on the E. by a low spread bank and on the S. by a bank 3 ft. high, with an external ditch. The W. side is no longer traceable on the ground but the 1st edition of the 25-in. O.S. map shows about 50 yds. of bank at the S. end; it probably was destroyed in 1863 when the railway was built (B.M. Add. MS. 37784, nos. 50, 62). At the N. end of the enclosure, and lying against the S. side of the moat, is an earthwork which Hutchins (I, 305) describes as a 'Cockpit'. It is a roughly circular area with an internal diameter of about 100 ft. bounded by a low bank and an external ditch. There is a gap in the N.W. part of the bank. This earthwork is certainly of later date than the moat.’

<6> Cathcart-King, D J, 1983, Castellarium anglicanum: an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands, 130 (Monograph). SDO16340.

<7> Lovell, J, 1997, Manor House, Stourpaine, Dorset. 11kv Mains Replacement. Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SDO13898.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 1900, Ordnance Survey Object Name Book reference revision 1900, 20 (Unpublished document). SDO16339.

‘The site of a large dwelling house, foundations of which are easily found a few inches below the surface; portions of the moat which surround it are still in good formation. The style suggests either 14th or 15th century.’

<10> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 881408 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Stourpaine Moat, Dorset: Bibliographic References : 1) Pt 2, Monument (9

<11> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 881422 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Stourpaine Moat, N-S profile, Dorset: Bibliographic References : 1) Pt 2, Monument (9), write up

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 882423 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Stourpaine Moat, Dorset: Bibliographic References : 1) Pt 2, Monument (9)

<13> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AA71/05853 (Index). SDO14738.

PLAN OF MANOR REMAINS CONSISTING OF A DRY MOAT AND OTHER EARTHWORKS

<14> Historic England, Historic England Archive, RCH01/096 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME Inventory: Dorset III (Central): A large collection of archive relating to the RCHME Dorset Inventory Volume III, published in 1970. It contains field surveys and excavation archive. Parish files containing original surveys have been given child collection status.

<15> National Record of the Historic Environment, 205404 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<16> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

<17> National Monuments Record, 17-NOV-2005, NMR 24132/05 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18857.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 3:06PM