Creeting Hall moat (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Creeting St Peter.
In the historic county of Suffolk.
Modern Authority of Suffolk.
1974 county of Suffolk.
Medieval County of Suffolk.

OS Map Grid Reference: TM07905655
Latitude 52.16881° Longitude 1.03907°

Creeting Hall moat has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Martin records a 'proto-moat' at Creeting St Peter, in his page on medieval castles.

The 'proto-moat' is not at Roydon Hall (as previous suggested in the Gatehouse website), but lies to the south of Creeting Hall at TM 0790 5655 (Suffolk HER no. CRP 001). It was an oval moat that was bulldozed in 1959 and now only shows as a soilmark. I described it as a 'proto-moat' as it was close in form to a ringwork, but seemed to lack ramparts - it seemed therefore possibly to be on the dividing line between castles and moats. (Edward Martin, 2009, pers corr.)

Creeting St. Peter, Creeting Hall (TM/07905655). A circular moat, 6 feet in depth, and probably indicating a mediaeval farmstead, was levelled by bull-dozer in November. (R. Jardine). (PSAI 1959)

The soil mark visible on OS air photographs measures overall 90.0m east - west and 70.0m north west - south east the ditch averaging 8.0m wide. The site lies on the alluvial flood plain of the River Gipping and is now visible as a slight non surveyable lift in plough. A scatter of red brick fragments and peg tile was seen during investigation but no concentration was found to indicate the exact site of a building. (PastScape–ref. Field Investigators Comments-F1 PAS 28-NOV-79)

Fieldwalking 1983-4 produced EMed pottery, C13-C14 pottery and a small amount of part-green-glazed pottery, together with a stone mortar and fragments of a bronze pot. Recorded as 'Moat Piece', arable, 1 acre 8 perches, owned by Sir William Beauchamp Proctor 1839 (Suffolk HER).

Comments

This moat was not noted in the VCH ancient earthworks and Gatehouse suspects it was fairly badly plough damaged before being bulldozed flat in 1959. It may, therefore, in it's original form have had a small rampart (the spoil from digging the ditch must have gone somewhere). It seems to have a long use as a farmstead but a question remains of its initial construction date. Does the circular form really mean an early date or is this just a quirky C13 moat in an oval form?

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 386809.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) CRP 001.

Books
- Martin, Edward, 1999 (3edn), 'Medieval Castles' in Dymond, David and Martin, Edward (eds) An Historical Atlas of Suffolk (Lavenham) p. 58-9, 199
Periodical Articles
- Smedley, N. and Owles, E., 1959, 'Archaeology in Suffolk 1959' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol. 28.2 p. 162 online copy

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