Monument record 0012403000 - Outer medieval enclosure at Broughton Manor Farm

An evaluation was undertaken in advance of the redevelopment of Manor Farm. A large outer enclosure to the already known moat was found. This appears to have originated in the 12th century and was enlarged perhaps in the mid 13th to 14th century. Ditches appear to have sub-divided the enclosure. Remains indicating a 15th to 16th century building were found, along with a long-used path and pits. Two gullies, one inside and one outside the enclosure, were on a different alignment and may pre-date the enclosure (and therefore be Saxon?). Some trial trenches were dug inside the aisled barn, which found a silted up stream channel that may have been levelled at the same time as the enclosure was enlarged, i.e the 13th to 14th century, which suggests that the barn itself cannot have been earlier than the 13th century. There was also some residual Iron Age, Roman and Saxon pottery found in later features. The site was held by Missenden Abbey until the Dissolution in AD 1538. This date may coincide with the cessation of activity in the outer enclosure and subsequent use as farmland (B1).

A wide boundary ditch of 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 north of the moated site at Manor Farm, Broughton Hamlet, and centred at SP 84608 13809. An L shaped ditch, approximately 110x32m at its largest and 8-10m across, is visible on aerial photographs from the 1940s; it is still visible on lidar visualisations but is less well defined.