Monument record 0041801000 - OLD LEIGHTON FARM, STEWKLEY

Dimensions - Length 66m, Width 50m.
Plan Form - Subrectangular.
Moat on site of manor/grange, once held by Woburn Abbey. C18 reference to house, 'moated round, in a most ruinous condition'. House pulled down c.1760 (B3).
Traces of moat & 2 large fishponds (B1 (1862)).
See earthwork survey at 1:2500, filed (B4).
NGR to centre of moat (B5).



(SP 83742737) Moat (NR) (B13).
Homestead moat 1 1/4 miles NW of Stewkley Church (B2).
There are traces of a moat and two large fishponds in a field called The Grove (B1).

A sub-rectangular homestead moat, situated on a gentle NE-facing slope, measuring overall c55.0m NW-SE by c48.0m transversely, with part-waterfilled arms, c10.0m wide. A retaining bank would have been required on the NE side to maintain the water-level of the moat, but there is now no trace. It appears to have been destroyed in the making of one of two ponds NE of the moat, presumably the "fishponds" mentioned by Sheahan. There is no trace of a building within the level moated area, now under pasture, but according to Miss C Jude, owner of the field, there is a tradition that a former house called "The Grange" stood somewhere in the field. Associated with the homestead moat are a number of enclosures delineated by hollows and scarps, and bounded to the NE and SE by rig-and-furrow. The field they occupy is called "The Wilderness". Re-surveyed at 1:2500 (B12).

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