Lee Barton (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Northleigh

In the civil parish of Morwenstow.
In the historic county of Cornwall.
Modern Authority of Cornwall.
1974 county of Cornwall.
Medieval County of Cornwall.

OS Map Grid Reference: SS23101228
Latitude 50.88277° Longitude -4.51606°

Lee Barton has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Fragments of a possible moat also survive at Lee in Morwenstow. (Preston-Jones and Peter p. 173)

Lea, on the site of which is now a mean farm-house, belonging to Lord Carteret, is described by Norden as a seat of the Copplestones: the last trace we find of the family, in this parish, is the burial of John Copplestone, Esq., in 1611. (Lysons)

At SS 23101228 is a large flattish area, roughly rectangular, bounded on the west by a break or 'step' in the ground, which may have been the site of a mansion though there is no positively identifiable building platform. At 23131227 is a deep, moat-like feature which, however, shows no traces of having extended beyond its present limits, 50.0m long on the east and 30.0m long on the north side. It is 14.0m wide and 3.7m deep at its maximum. (PastScape)

Comments

The partial moat is on the side of the probably building which faces the road from Kilkhampton. Although the site is fairly level it sits of a ridge and building a complete moat would have been a difficult project and, if intended to be water filled, the source of water is not obvious. The moat feature lies below the house platform and may just be on the springline. The rest of the site seems to be above the springline. The conclusion is that this is a water feature for show rather than a defence, although that is probably true for almost all moated sites. The modern Lee Barton is at the back of the house site and, presumably, started out as farm buildings.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 32247.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 4494.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 1999, The Castles of Devon and Cornwall (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 47 (slight)
  Lysons, D. and S., 1814, Magna Britannia Vol. 3 Cornwall p. 243 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Preston-Jones, Ann and Rose, Peter, 1986, 'Medieval Cornwall' Cornish Archaeology Hendhyscans Kernow Vol. 25 p. 135-185 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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