Monument record MDO1246 - Moat at Holwell Manor House, Holwell

The remains of a rectangular moat surround Holwell Manor House on three sides. It is thought to be medieval in origin, and probably the site of a farm established in the twelfth or thirteenth century. The moat is depicted as a rectangular island completely surrounded by a wet ditch on the tithe map (1841) but part of it was filled and part converted into a water garden later in the nineteenth century, probably in 1889.

According to Coker, the house was the principal lodge of the Forest of Blackmore, being held by William de Brett and his successors on the King's Forester of Blackmore. The house subsequently passed to the Abbey of Abbatsbury upon the suppression of which it was purchased by Sir Giles Strongways, and sold at a later date to James Harron who was living there in Cokers time. <1>

<1> 1898, Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries 6, 266-7 (Serial). SDO17518.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1923-33, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch three, 1927 (Map). SDO11595.

(ST 68911040) Manor House (NR) Moat (NR)

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 121 (Monograph). SDO146.

'(9) The Manor House … The house is surrounded on three sides by the remains of a rectangular Moat (class A 3)1; it is almost certainly medieval in origin and it probably represents the site of a farm that was established in the waste beyond the open fields in the 12th or 13th century. Until late in the 19th century the moat was a normal mediaeval homestead moat and the Tithe Map of 1841 (D.C.R.O.) shows the site as a rectangular island completely surrounded by a wet ditch, with the house in the S.E. corner and extensive farm buildings outside it to S. and S.E. The ditch now remains only on the N., W. and S. sides, where it is 15 ft. to 20 ft. wide and up to 4 ft. deep. At the S.W. corner it has been turned into a water-garden with ponds, waterfalls and sluices, and at the E. end of the S. side the ditch has a rectangular projection to the S., crossed by the present drive to the house. The construction of the water-garden and the S. projection, together with the destruction of the E. side of the moat and the removal of the farm buildings, probably occurred in1889.'

<4> Phillips, A S, Various, Field Investigators Comments ASP, F1 ASP 24 11 77 (Unpublished document). SWX3817.

<5> Upton, K L, 1978, The Moated Sites of Dorset, 21-2 (Unpublished document). SDO14051.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 199540 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 18 2022 10:11AM