Monument record 0030100000 - TRENCHES, LANGLEY MARISH

1809 MAP SHOWS MOAT WITH NO BUILDINGS (B1).
SITE OF THE OLD HOUSE WITH LARGE SURROUNDING MOAT ENCLOSING OVER 1 ACRE (B2).
A homestead moat at Trenches, it is said to have surrounded a house, of which no traces remain. About 400 ft south of the moat are some fish ponds; the soil dug out of them forms mounds which are supposed locally to have been made for trenches in the Civil War, and gave the present house its name. (Not visible on available APs; obscured by trees) (B3).
WELL PRESERVED & WATER FILLED, ON W, N & S SIDES. E ARM USED AS RUBBISH PIT & PARTLY INFILLED. ENTRANCE OVER S ARM? (B4).
'Court Garden' shown on 1603 Treswell map and on 1607 Norden map at this approximate location (B5).
The Orchards interpreted by John Phibbs as remains of Elizabethan royal court garden comporable to the pleasaunce at Kenilworth and Bacon's water gardens at Gorehambury (B6).
The moat is said to have surrounded a house, no signs of which remain. It is well preserved, has rounded corners, and its northern, southern and western arms are still water-filled. The eastern arm was used as a rubbish pit and has subsequently been filled in. Access to the artificial island is by a causeway over the southern arm (B7).



(TQ 00678036) Moat (NR) (B8).
The moat is still well preserved and waterfilled except for the E arm which has been used as a rubbish pit and partly filled in. A causeway over the S arm may represent the site of the original entrance (B9).
The former Trenches farmhouse appears an entirely 19th C structure. On the N side of the house only, the SW quadrant of the homestead moat survives, the rest having been filled in. It is waterfilled, but rapidly silting and averages c 9.0m in width. There is no trace of a structure within the enclosed orchard area. At TQ 0070 8017 is a rectangle formed of four 6.0m wide waterfilled arms measuring some 80.0m E-W by 50.0m N-S. It is overgrown and obscured by rubbish and gravel tipping and the internal area is not accessible, but the shallow profile of the area suggests that this was a fishpond fed by a stream running W to E. Published survey (25") correct (B10).