Monument record 0041600000 - Moat or fishponds NW OF OLD PARISH CHURCH

HOMESTEAD MOAT (B1).
THERE IS A MOAT TO NW OF CHURCH (3 SIDES OF PROBABLE MOAT APPEAR ON OS 25-INCH MAP, 1878). MOATED SITE HAS BEEN PLOUGHED OUT WITHOUT TRACE (B2).
OS 25-INCH MAP (1921) SHOWS FEATURE AS DESCRIBED (B3).
(SEE ALSO CASS 00938;00940;02384).
Geophysical surveys carried out by members of BAS in October and November 2013 identified a number of low resistance anomalies to the north of the churchyard, interpreted as former ponds. See report for detail (B5).

Probable fishponds of medieval date is visible on historic aerial photographs as extant earthworks and were mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located on the north west side of the site of the old church, Stoke Mandeville, and centred at SP 83800 09472. There are three earthworks forming a U shape of ponds; earthwork banks are visible next to the northernmost pond. The Ordnance Survey Epoch 1 map shows this as a subrectangular pond measuring approximately 37x12m at its largest and the earthwork banks are visible on the long sides of the pond. The two other ponds measure 30x11m and 31x13m at their largest and are shown on the same map as an L shaped area of marshy ground. This whole area has been affected/removed by the construction of the High Speed Rail 2 (HS2). (6-9)





There is a moat to the NW of the church (B10) (3 sides of a probable moat appear on OS 25" 1878). Niven (B11) mentions a moat still to be traced on all four sides of the churchyard, but suggests it could have been constructed for drainage purposes. According to Lipscomb (B12) the original tower and north aisle appeared to have been demolished by violence but there were many moats and ditches nearly enclosing the site, but no particulars of their history had been preserved. The ground in the immediate vicintiy of the church is very undulating, and distinct traces of a moat and fishponds remain (B13) two sides of a probable rectangular ditch being visible on A/Ps (B14).
The moated site to the NW of the church has been ploughed out without trace, as has the greater part of the DMV to the SE, with the sole exception of a dry, but moat-like, ditch with inner bank, centred at SP 83900933. This feature runs SE from a stream for 120.0m and then NE through a right angled corner for 50.0m to another stream. The ditch is 6.0m wide, 0.4m deep, the bank, 5.0m wide, 0.4m high. No traces of fishponds were seen, but rectangular areas of marshy ground portrayed on the OS 1:2500 at SP 83840935 and SP 83810931, now unsurveyable, may be sites of fishponds (B15).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.