Monument record 0039300000 - GROUNDS OF TERRICK HOUSE

Plan Form - RECTANGULAR
HOMESTEAD MOAT (B1).
SMALL, WATERFILLED MOAT NOW FORMS AN ORNAMENTAL FEATURE WITHIN GARDENS OF TERRICK HOUSE (1702 & C19). MOAT MEASURES OVERALL 40M NE/SW BY 33M TRANSVERSELY. ARMS 8M WIDE. A SUMMERHOUSE OCCUPIES THE ISLAND (B2).
SURVEY OF MOAT AT 1:5280 BASED ON VERTICAL AP (B3).
SCHEDULED (B4).
Infilled arm of moat extending north-west from northernmost corner of the moat was identified during evaluation trial trenching carried out by John Moore Heritage Services in January 2003. The lowest fills were waterlogged and contained organic material, including a large tree stump which had been deliberately dumped in the moat. A soil monolith was taken to sample the entire sequence of fills. The arm is shown on the 1805 Inclosure map (along with a number of small ponds, which may represent medieval fishponds). The upper fills were overlain by a probable cobbled yard surface (B7).
Evaluation trial trenching carried out by John Moore Heritage Services in August 2002 in an orchard SW of the moat failed to find any archaeological remains other than a 19th century field boundary ditch (B9).

A moat of probable medieval date is visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as extant earthworks and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located at Terrick House, Ellesborough, and centred at SP 83713 08256. The moat is subrectangular and measures approximately 39x46m and between 8m and 13m in width. The moat is visible as a wooded area between gardens and an orchard in the 1940s and as clear earthworks on liar visualisations. Modern land use is still a garden but the orchard has been replaced by a new house and equestrian buildings and paddocks. This moat is Scheduled and in an area where moats are fairly numerous. (10-11)