Giants Moat, Mileham (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Burghwood; Burwood

In the civil parish of Mileham.
In the historic county of Norfolk.
Modern Authority of Norfolk.
1974 county of Norfolk.
Medieval County of Norfolk.

OS Map Grid Reference: TF913197
Latitude 52.74186° Longitude 0.83133°

Giants Moat, Mileham has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

A medieval moated site with cropmarks of outer enclosures. When the moat was being cleared out in 1945, the remains of the drawbridge, medieval pottery fragments and a Late Saxon sword were found. Fieldwalking has since recovered Roman and medieval pottery fragments. (Norfolk HER)

Hilt of Viking sword of C10-C11 date found in 1945 in cleaning out a C13 moat at Great Wood, Mileham. The sword is 2 ft 9 1/2 ins long, the hilt 6 1/8 inches. In Norwich Castle Museum. Found close to the site of the drawbridge of the moat. Roman and mediaval pottery scatter around moat. A strongly defensive homestead moat; no surface indications of original causeway or building, complete, in good condition, and situated in open pasture. The island stands level with the surrounding area, the arms, which are water filled have a max width of 15.0m and a depth of 3.0m. The moat is spring fed with a modern drainage ditch running from the south arm. (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 358720.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 7229.

Books
- Clarke, R.R., 1960, East Anglia ancient people and places (Thames and Hudson, London) p. 232
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Bryant, A., 1826, Bryant's Map of Norfolk
  Blomefield, F., 1809, ''Launditch Hundred: Mileham' An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk Vol. 10 p. 21 (tenurial history) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Wilson, 1965, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 9 p. 39-40 pl.vi.a download copy
  Clarke, R.R., 1952, Norfolk Archaeology Vol. 30 p. 158
  1940-46, Archaeological Bulletin B1 p. 25

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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