Little Easton Moat (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Little Easton.
In the historic county of Essex.
Modern Authority of Essex.
1974 county of Essex.
Medieval County of Essex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL60502353
Latitude 51.88772° Longitude 0.32996°

Little Easton Moat has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Moat south east of the house, only part of the east arm with bank on counterscarp remains. Moat 2m deep, bank on counterscarp 1m high. Insufficient remains on OS 25" for positive classification but the ditch was substantial and the site slopes, precluding a circuit of water. Only a 20m length of counterscarp bank survives, 1m high, landscaped and planted, giving no indication of purpose. Site is on edge of a broad, north-facing spur, largely occupied by the manor house and its gardens and adjacent to the church. Manor at Little Easton belonging to William de Warenne and Geoffrey de Mandeville listed in Domesday but no reference to fortification. 'Moat' may have been last remains of a defensive earthwork, bailey or ringwork, around the church and former manor ("curve of C17 outbuildings north west of the 'moat' site is significant"). in Incomplete, rectangular? Park in arable country. Natural spur in natural valley has been dammed and landscaped. (Unlocking Essex's Past)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 376462.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1213.

Books
- Reaney, P.H., 1935, The Place-Names of Essex (English Place-Name Society 12) p. 484-5
  RCHME, 1916, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex Vol. 1 (north-west) p. 183 no. 3 online transcription

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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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