Monument record 0052400000 - HARTLEY COURT MOAT

Summary

Thirteenth to seventeenth century records of Hartley Court Moat in Burnham Beeches - Hartley Court is a sub-rectangular medieval moated island, covering 0.6 hectares, which is situated within a larger, diamond-shaped enclosure of 3.7 hectares. The island is surrounded by a broad ditch, measuring 5 metres to 7 metres in width and about 1.5 metres in depth, which retains water for much of the year supplied by rainfall and the natural water table. The interior is subdivided by several banks, measuring on average 2.5 metres in width and 0.8 metres high; including a main partition orientated north to south across the middle of the island. A second bank runs parallel to the northern section of the main partition, and the intervening area contains some slight undulations which suggest the position of former structures. This has been suggested as the as the location of the principal dwelling. A range of outbuildings is indicated by three low, square platforms abutting the inner moat bank near the south eastern corner of the island. In the north eastern corner of the moat is a well. The uneven appearance of the ground surface in this location together with the proximity of the well implies the locations of other domestic buildings which are likely to include kitchens, brew and bake houses. The outer enclosure is bounded by a bank and external ditch. The bank averages 3 metres wide and 0.7 metres high and the ditch is generally the same width and about 0.6 metres deep. The boundary earthworks are designed to keep stock, and other animals grazing the surrounding wood pastrure out of the enclosure. This would protect cultivated land within the enclosure providing produce for the homestead.

Protected Status/Designation

  • Archaeological Notification Area: Earthworks of Medieval moat, possibly the site of a park keeper's lodge (DBC9298)
  • Scheduled Monument 1018576: HARTLEY COURT MOATED SITE AND ENCLOSURE (DBC7092)

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Type and Period (13)

  • MOAT (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • BAKEHOUSE (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • BOUNDARY BANK (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • BOUNDARY DITCH (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • BREWHOUSE (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • BUILDING PLATFORM (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • ENCLOSURE (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • ENCLOSURE (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • HOMESTEAD (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • HOUSE (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • KITCHEN (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • OUTBUILDING (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)
  • WELL (13th Century to 17th Century - 1200 AD to 1699 AD)

Description

(OR HARLEQUIN'S/HARDICANUTE'S MOAT). CENTRAL MOAT INSIDE LARGER ENCLOSURE. HARTLEY WOOD GRANTED TO BURNHAM ABBEY 1266 & HARTLEY PARK APPURTENANT TO CIPPENHAM 1299. 1596: MENTION OF HARTLEY COURT; IN C17 HARTLEY COURT MOAT OWNED BY EYRES OF E BURNHAM. PROB HOMESTEAD WITH OUTER CULTIVATED AREA (B1-6).
SCHEDULED (B6).




(SU 9461 8568) Hardicanute's Moat (NR) (B8)
Moat (NR) (B9)

Visited April 1927. Water in inner moat-banks of both, steep. Probably medieval. Many banks and some pits in inner enclosure (B10).

Lands called Hartley Court Moat belonged in the 17th century to the Eyres of East Burnham. The name may perhaps have been corrupted into Harlequin's or Hardicanute's Moat, names by which a square moated inclosure of about 2 acres in the Beeches is now known. (B3).

Moated site, with ramparts, quadrilateral in shape with one right angle. It consists of a single rampart (8 ft high and 20 ft wide) and ditch, now nearly dry, with a slight bank upon the counterscarp. There are traces of two transverse banks, running from N to S, and of another running from E to W. On the E side is an entrance with a causeway across the ditch (B2).

A trapezoidal-shaped enclosure some 100.0m by 60.0m surrounded by a water-filled moat some 5.0m in width with an internal bank and, in most places, an external retaining bank. The entrance is a simple causeway near the south-east corner. Within the enclosed area are several dividing banks. The general position of the work, in a well established wood of some antiquity, and the narrowness of the arms suggest that this is more likely to be an animal stock enclosure than a homestead moat.

Surrounding this moated enclosure is a small bank and external ditch up to 8.0m in overall width, which encloses an area of about 200.0m by 200.0m. This feature may be connected with the moated enclosure but its exact purpose is obscure.
Published 1:2500 revised (B11).

No change (B12).

Scheduled. Number 138 (B13).

Description and history of site with plans and ditch profiles (B5).

NRHE Insert 1998, Update 2004, 2011 (B14).

Sources (14)

  • <1>SBC19727 Bibliographic reference: James Joseph Sheahan. 1862. History and Topography of Buckinghamshire. p820.
  • <2>SBC20466 Bibliographic reference: Royal Commision on Historical Monuments. 1912. Historical Monuments in Buckinghamshire Volume 1. Volume 1. p75.
  • <3>SBC20462 Bibliographic reference: William Page (ed). 1925. A History of Buckinghamshire (Victoria County History) Volume III. Volume 3. p167.
  • <4>SBC11170 Bibliographic reference: OS RECORD CARD SU 98 NW 06 (FILED).
  • <5>SBC8560 Article in serial: Don and Dorothy Miller. 1978. 'HARTLEY COURT MOAT AND ENCLOSURE', IN RECS OF BUCKS 20 PP535-537 (TYPESCRIPT OF SURVEY, FILED). Vol 20, part4.
  • <6>SBC14018 Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1998. SCHEDULING LISTS OF INSPECTORATE OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS.
  • <7>SBC2326 Article in serial: L M Cantor and J Hatherly. 1977. 'THE MEDIEVAL PARKS OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE', in Records of Buckinghamshire 20. Vol 20 part 3.
  • <8>SBC10329 Map: Ordnance Survey. 1900. OS 1900 1:10560 2ND EDITION MAP. 1:10560.
  • <9>SBC10422 Map: 1961. OS 1961 6 INCH MAP.
  • <10>SBC27546 Map: Historic England/OGS Crawford. VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION - Annotated Map Rec 6" (OGS Crawford Udtd).
  • <11>SBC28247 Verbal communication: F G Aldsworth. 1969. Field Investigators Comments - FG Aldsworth, FGA 14-MAY-1969. 1319797 S -U 98 NW 6 (1969) Index Card.
  • <12>SBC28242 Verbal communication: J R Linge. 1974. Field Investigators Comments - F1 JRL 19-SEP-74.
  • <13>SBC28248 Scheduling record: DoE. 1979. VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION - DoE INSPECTORATE OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS (IAM) Record Forme July 1980.
  • <14>SBC27441 Digital archive: Historic England. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE). Object Nos BB78/09091: Plan; BB91/02462: Photograph.

Location

Grid reference SU 94610 85680 (point)
Civil Parish BURNHAM, South Bucks, Buckinghamshire

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (3)

Related Events/Activities (1)

  • Event - Survey: (EBC13214)

Record last edited

Oct 2 2025 1:34PM

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