Wragby Rout Yard

Description

The remains of the medieval moated manorial complex and associated church at Wragby survive well as a series of earthworks and buried deposits. As a result of documentary research and archaeological survey the remains are quite well understood. The artificially raised ground will preserve evidence of land use prior to the construction of the monument, while overlying deposits will contribute to an understanding of domestic and economic activity on the site throughout the medieval period. The buried remains of the church will preserve evidence for its construction and use over at least 700 years, and the churchyard will retain unique evidence for a human population extending over the same period. The association of the church and manor remains provides a rare opportunity to study the inter-relationship of important components of the medieval landscape.
The monument includes the remains of a medieval manorial complex with associated church and churchyard located 230m south east of the present All Saints' Church. In 1086 there were two manors at Wragby in the possession of Erenis of Buron and Waldin the Artificer. The surviving remains are thought to represent the manor held by Erenis of Buron which included responsibility for a church and a priest and was the centre of a substantial estate. For much of the later medieval period it was held by the de Roos family and is thought to have been abandoned by the end of the 15th century. The former parish church of All Saints, which stood adjacent to the moated site, is believed to have dated from the 12th century. The church was largely dismantled in the mid-19th century when the present All Saints' Church was built 300m to the north west
The monument takes the form of two moated islands and associated ditched enclosures, known as 'Rout Yard', together with the buried remains of the former church and churchyard. The islands lie adjacent to each other on a north-south alignment and are roughly rectangular in plan standing approximately 2m above the surrounding ground level. The northern island measures 60m by 40m, and the southern island measures 50m by 40m. The southern moat arm of the southern island is lined by an internal bank with a roughly square embanked enclosure, measuring 6m in width, at the south eastern corner of the island thought to represent a building platform. The islands are enclosed by a broad, dry moat measuring 10m to 12m in width and up to 1m in depth. An infilled section of the eastern moat arm provided a causeway onto the southern island with the remains of a hollow way running eastward from it and is thought to represent the location of an original access point. The northern moat arm and part of the eastern moat arm are lined by an external bank which terminates at the causeway.
Two ditches are linked to the north west corner of the moat. One curves round to the north east and defines the northern edge of an enclosed area on the north side of the moat with low banks indicating the eastern edge of the enclosure; low earthworks and hollows are visible within the enclosure, which is thought to represent a paddock or yard associated with the manor house. The other ditch, shown on early maps and now visible as a shallow depression, leads to the north west where it is thought to represent the remains of another enclosure. A shallow hollow leading eastward from the south east corner of the moat is thought to have provided an outlet channel.
The site of the medieval church and churchyard associated with the manorial complex lies immediately to the south east of the moated islands. The churchyard is subrectangular in plan, measuring 60m by 55m, and is enclosed by shallow ditches to the north, east, and south. At the centre of the enclosure are the buried remains of the former church of All Saints. The church measured 25m in length and 8.8m wide. Elements of the nave, north aisle, arcade, and chancel dated from the 12th and 13th centuries, with a tower dating from the 15th century and a 16th century south porch. Alterations were made during the 18th century when the chancel was rebuilt. The church was dismantled in 1836 when a new church was established closer to the modern village centre. The 18th century brick-built chancel was retained, as a cemetery chapel, until the 1980s when it too was demolished. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

The earthworks of Rout Yard are somewhat irregular and not the the neat square earthworks more usual of later medieval moated manorial sites. Was this a ringwork and bailey converted into moated manor house?