Dalton-on-Tees moat

Description

NZ 297082. Dalton on Tees. Medieval moat, the central island raised. Worked stone and window tracery is in the garden of an adjacent modern house. The moat is probably related to one south of the village (NZ 20 NE 5 - which is a probable fish pond associated with Dalton On Tees shrunken village (Le Patourel 1973).
NZ 29690820; NZ 29840792. The remains of the medieval village of Dalton on Tees, surviving as earthworks in fields around the present village. The area between the current village and the river contains a moated site and the core of the medieval settlement. A field to the east of the village contains the remains of the medieval field system, The medieval village took the form of a row of tofts and crofts aligned along a wide sunken street which functioned as a village green. The earthwork remains of building platforms within the tofts represent the locations of dwellings and associated structures. The moated site lies 40 metres to the east of the village street and comprises a raised platform surrounded by a waterfilled ditch. It lay on the edge of the village and probably occupied by a relatively prestigious dwelling. The remains of the field system lie east and south east of the moat and west of the crofts. These remains take the form of blocks of ridge and furrow, divided into sections by tracks and headlands. A further area of ridge and furrow lies south east of the present village. The layout of the settlement suggests that it was a planned village, built sometime after 1069-70. It was in decline by the 14th century but the exact date of its abandonment is uncertain. (PastScape 23547)

NZ 296078 One of the moated sites of the Medieval earthwork complex associated with the shrunken village of Dalton on Tees, was investigated in 1971. Partial excavation of the central mound of the more western enclosure by Pallister and Still revealed that the platform was partly roughly surfaced, but no structural evidence was found. A small causeway crossing the western ditch midway was contemporary with the ditch, which was revetted on its outer face only. North of the main ditch and mound and connected to it by small channels are 3 rectangular depressions, one still holding water. The whole complex is surrounded by an earth bank and lies immediately behind one of the former village crofts, now largely obliterated by a recent by-pass road. The absence of any structure on the central mound, the non-defensive nature of the sloping sided ditch and the associated shallow depressions implying breeding tanks, all suggest that this is a group of small fish ponds. Pottery from the platform build-up is broadly datable to circa 1300, while the small quantity on its surface was mostly late medieval, including Cistercian ware. (3-4)
NZ 29590776. The earthwork remains of a complex of fishponds associated with the medieval village of Dalton upon Tees. The complex is similar to the nearby moated site in form, comprising a rectangular platform surrounded by a ditch. A depression to the north east represents the remains of a second pond, while further north is an elongated depression thought to have been a settling pond. Originally believed to be a moat, the results of the 1971 excavation led to the conclusion that the site represented a small complex of fishponds. Similar moated platforms may also have been used as locations for the rearing of fowl. (PastScape 23544)

NZ296078. Moated site in pasture adjacent to road. (Ryder)

Comments

Listed by Peter Ryder as a fortified manor house although he appears to be describing the site recorded as fish ponds. The actually manor house moat lies a little to the north of these. There is noting to suggest this manor house had any fortifications other than a domestic moat.