Monument record 0003500000 - DRAYTON BEAUCHAMP MANOR

BEFORE THE CONQUEST HELD BY ALVERIC, THEGN OF EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 1086 HELD OF MANNO LE BRETON. 1225 IN POSSESSION OF WM DE BEAUCHAMP. 1364 GRANTED CHEYNE & REMAINED WITH FAMILY UNTIL 1728 (B5,B11).

The site of a moated manor house with a moat and fishponds 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 to the north west of St Mary’s Church, Drayton Beauchamp, and centred at SP 90025 12071. This site is on the eastern edge of the project area and only partially within the area. An almost trapezoidal moat, with a corner inset, making an irregular shape; it measures approximately 120x126m at its largest and the ditches are 6-16m across. A waterchannel is visible at the south west corner and the fishpond start from the northernmost corner. The linked fishponds are long and narrow and measure approximately 78x18m, 72x15m, 85x25m, 43x17m and the northernmost pond is L shaped and measures 33x42m and is 12-14m across. A further water channel for supply/drainage is visible at the northernmost corner of the ponds. Further linear ditches and banks are visible between the moat and the fishponds, which may be internal boundaries or garden features, and possible platforms are also visible on the lidar visualisation. Modern land use is pasture on the northern side of the moat and fishponds and the southern part is partly wooded. The embankment along the A41 bypass runs along the south of the site, south of the parish boundary, which is unchanged from the Ordnance Survey Epoch 1 map. The 1814 Ordnance Surveyor’s drawing shows the moat without the inset corner and a building at the centre. A small building is also visible on the Epoch 1 map and current aerial photographs show a modern roof on the building. (14-19)