Monument record MDO4798 - Moat at Parsonage Farm, Stourpaine

The moat is part of a complex of earthwork remains to the south of Parsonage Farm on the southern edge of Stourpaine village. It survives as a rectangular level platform with a peripheral bank surrounded by a partially in-filled ditch with a length of external bank on the western side. The moat may have been the site of an abandoned manor house. The moat is visible as earthworks on lidar imagery and aerial photographs and was digitally plotted during the Middle Dorset Stour AIM Project. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

Adjoining a farmyard close to Stourpaine church is a small square "entrenchment" with sides of about 30 yds, perhaps the site of the manor house, although local tradition alleges it to be an old mill-bay. In the same field further south is a small circular embankment said to be a cockpit. <2> The moat survives as a rectangular level platform with a peripheral bank measuring 7m wide and 1.8m high surrounded by a partially in-filled ditch up to 7m wide and 3m deep with a length of external bank on the western side. The moat may have been the site of an abandoned manor house. The north eastern corner of the moat is crossed by a track. <4> Listed as a possible castle. <6> The moat is visible as earthworks on lidar imagery and aerial photographs and was digitally plotted during the Middle Dorset Stour AIM Project [16, 17].

Record last edited

Nov 22 2022 7:26PM