Marsh Court, Wincanton (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Marsch; la Mersch by Wyncaulton

In the civil parish of Wincanton.
In the historic county of Somerset.
Modern Authority of Somerset.
1974 county of Somerset.
Medieval County of Somerset.

OS Map Grid Reference: ST74012564
Latitude 51.02954° Longitude -2.37197°

Marsh Court, Wincanton has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Site of court house, extant 1485; house AD 1661. Dunning writes house had chapel in C13, dovecot in C14 and suggests this was a substantial house. The complex seems to comprise a double moated enclosure. Marsh Court has one possible moat while the farm buildings to the E also are moated. It is the latter which survives today. The OS 25" map shows both moats in fragmentary states. The one around the main farm house is shown on the W side as a narrow ditch, still water filled which extends to the N and S making three sides. Today this is almost non-existant except for a slight bank around the S and W sides, the latter being disturbed by an access road. The other enclosure is also shown on the map and this survives as a substantial earthwork although infilled in some places. It is water filled on the S and E sides, the W side (making up the common side between both moats) is infilled with farm rubbish. The buildings in this enclosure are recent farm buildings with probably little damage caused to any deposits that may be underneath. A possible original causeway is still in use although there is no sign of any bridge structure. The course of the moat to the W can be seen as earthwork although now there is a wall blocking it off. The faint earthworks of a possible fishpond lie to the E of the site. (Derived from Dunning, PastScape and Somerset HER)

Richard Lovel had a house at Marsh in 1344 and a garden and dovecot were mentioned in 1351. The former 'goodly manor place' was a ruin in 1540 but there seems to have been a house there in 1569. Until the 1960s traces of a double moat were visible, the original house probably in a square enclosure which was set within a much larger site, the eastern end of which may have included a fishpond. The western part of the moat was destroyed between 1966 and 1976. (VCH 1999)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1238852
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 202385.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 54701.

Books
- Dunning, R.W., Currie, C.R.J. (eds), 1999, VCH Somerset Vol. 7 p. 208-232 online transcription
  Dunning, Robert, 1995, Somerset Castles (Somerset Books) p. 55
  Bothamley, 1911, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Somerset Vol. 2 p. 140
Periodical Articles
- Aston, M. et al, 1976, 'Somerset Field Monument...survey' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol. 120 p. 92
  Meade, Canon, 1870, 'Castle Cary church' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol. 16 p. 6
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Stamp, A.E.(ed), 1938, Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem Vol. 12 p. 70-1 view online copy
  Landon, L. (ed), 1929, Somersetshire Pleas from the Rolls of the Itinerant Justices, 1280 (Somerset Record Society 44) p. 194-5
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 5 p. 219 online copy

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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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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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