Wath upon Dearne moat (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Wath Hall; Wathe

In the civil parish of Wath upon Dearne.
In the historic county of Yorkshire.
Modern Authority of Rotherham.
1974 county of South Yorkshire.
Medieval County of Yorkshire West Riding.

OS Map Grid Reference: SE431011
Latitude 53.50438° Longitude -1.35151°

Wath upon Dearne moat has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Wath Hall - Medieval hall stood in front of the present vicarage, was moated by a diversion of the Grewalebrook around it. Later became the Rectory (Martin 1920).
Geophysical survey seems to show good evidence of the moat and possible structures on the island (ASWYAS 2005).
Archaeological evaluation has confirmed the presence of a medieval moat. Structures within the moated area have also been found, confirming the interpretation of the earlier geophysical survey. Dating evidence for these structures is limited and it is unclear whether they date from the late 11th century medieval manor or the later medieval vicarage of c.1410, or both (Lee and Signorelli 2006). (South Yorkshire SMR)

Foundations formally visible in the grounds of the former vicarage have been suggested as those other fortified manor house. The SW corner of the vicarage stands on artificially raised area and there are indications to the SE that the bank is scarped with a dry ditch WSW to ENE at the base though both could reflect ornamental landscaping. (Sneyd 1995)

1312. Sept. 7. Westminster. Grant to Reyner le Flemyng, and his heirs, of a weekly market on Tuesday at their manor of Wathe, co. York, and of a yearly fair there on the vigil and the feast of St. Matthew; grant also of free warren in all their demesne lands of Wathe, Clifton, Bouthemel and Dalton, co. York.
By K. on the information of E. de Malo Lacu. (CChR - Gazetteer of Markets notes "Identified in the index of the Calendar of Charter Rolls as Wath in Hovingham, North Riding. However, neither the market, fair nor the grantee are mentioned in the entry for Wath in Hovingham in VCH (VCH Yorkshire (North Riding), i, pp. 505-6). William le Flemyng was holding Wath upon Dearne in 1302-3; John Flemyng was holding in 1316 (FA, vi, pp. 130, 198)."

Comments

It may be probably that the lords of the manor, the Flemings, had a manor house that was in a style reflecting their military status - they were a family of noted knights - particularly in a manor they were developing as a town with a market. However, it is not clear this was their main caput and the moated manor house may have really been for their steward or bailiff. That it was to become a rectory less than a 100 years after the market grant doesn't suggest a building that had a lot of expenditure spent on it.

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 00745/01.

Books
- Sneyd, Steve, 1995, The Devil's Logbook Castles and Fortified Sites around South Yorkshire (Hilltop Press) p. 18
  Martin, W. Keble, 1920, A history of the ancient parish of Wath-upon-Dearne (South Yorkshire) p. 23
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1908, Calendar of Charter Rolls Edward I, Edward II 1300-1326 Vol. 3. (HMSO) p. 195 view online copy
  1920, Inquisitions and Assessments relating to Feudal Aids; with other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office AD 1284-1431 (HMSO) Vol. 6 p. 130 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Lee, D. and Signorelli, L.. 2006. Land off Barnsley Road, Wath-upon-Dearne: Archaeological Evaluation
  ASWYAS. 2005. Land off Barnsley Road, Wath-upon-Dearne: Geophysical Survey

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