Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The well-preserved earthworks of a medieval moated site, with an adjoining complex of six fishponds. Possible traces of a building on the platform. On the basis of documentary evidence, the moat is thought to be the site of the Manor of Chiddingstone Burghersh, which was built before 1306 and was certainly demolished by 1591, probably by the mid-15th century. The document of 1591 states that the Manor was built by William de Burghershe, but there are reasons to believe that this assertion is unreliable. It may have been built by Robert de Burghersh, who died possessed of it in 1306, or by another, earlier member of the family.

Monument Types

• MOAT (MOAT, Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Full description

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[TQ 506 446] Moat at Chiddingstone Burghersh, Chiddingstone is listed in the County checklist of moated sites in Kent - December 1979. (1)(2) Place name evidence at TQ 507 445 a field is named The Moats. (3) In February - March 1998, RCHME and Otford and District Archaeological Group carried out a Level 3 earthwork survey of the site, following the discovery and recognition of the earthworks of the moat by a local resident (Event Record 1116291) (4). The site lies in a valley bottom and the water features would have been fed by a minor tributary of the River Eden, which flows from west to east. The moat itself, which is currently under pasture, is almost square and is relatively well-preserved as an earthwork, except on the west where ploughing has degraded its outer edge. The arms are c.20m wide and 1m deep, except on the south side, which may have been a few metres wider originally, but has been distorted by erosion by the stream. The platform measures 60m X 60m, though it is somewhat off a perfect square. It was entered from the west via a causeway. The platform is raised 0.5m above the valley floor. At one point, it appears to retain what appear to be traces of wall foundations, although there is also a cruciform arrangment of low banks that may be associated with an episode of later cultivation.

In woodland immediately to the east of the moat, a complex of fishponds is better preserved. A smaller second platform is formed by two large shallow fishponds adjoining the eastern corners of the main moat, connected by a narrower channel. The more northerly of the two may have been designed to create attractive reflections of the house, since it measures 55m west to east by 40m north to south, but was probably less than 1m deep. The water for the whole arrangement, which appears to represent a single phase of construction, was retained by a single massive pond bay 115m long, up to 24m wide at the base and 1.8m high, which crosses the valley bottom from north to south. This has been breached by the stream near its southern terminal.

To the east of the pond-bay, another rectangular pond 40m north to south by 13m wide and 1.0m deep is extremely well-preserved as an earthwork. A possible smaller tank adjacent to it on the north may have been slightly distorted by an adjacent marl pit. A long boomerang-shaped pond, almost canal-like, runs parallel to the pond-bay and the northern side of the fishpond complex. This effectively forms a broad raised terrace between the two water features. Given the ornamental layout of the ponds, this could be could be a garden walk.

Documentary evidence leaves little doubt that the complex is the site of the Manor of Chiddingstone Burghersh. The site was mislocated by the OS (Source 3), and subsequently by others (Sources 1 & 2) due to the portrayal of the fieldname The Moats on the Tithe Map, in a location roughly 250m to the south-west (see 3a). The same name appears on an estate map of 1716, apparently applying to a curious arrangment of field boundaries, comprising a small square compartment with a small semi-circular compartment adjacent to it. The former field in which the earthworks lie was named Inward Moat Mead on a companion estate map of 1703-4. Despite this, the historian Dr Gordon Ward was also misled in 1930 and took the unusual arrangement of field boundaries to represent the moat itself (4). On the basis of this he reconstructed the layout and extent of the demesne lands. This interpretation is seriously undermined by the field evidence which indicates that the entrance would have been to the west, not to the south-west as Ward inferred. However the field boundaries recorded in 1716 do appear to be related to the manorial complex, and may have been garden compartments.

Documents relevant to the manor were compiled by Ward (4d). According to a commentary of 1591, the moat was built for Sir William de Burghersh, apparently at some point after 1277. However there are grounds for doubting this. Calendars held in the PRO certainly indicate that Sir Robert de Burghersh died possessed of the manor in 1306. It subsequently passed to his eminent sons, Stephen and Bartholomewe, and then to Bartholomew's eldest son, also called Bartholomew. Like his father, Bartholomew the younger was a favourite of the King and achieved many high offices. The house appears to have been still standing in 1383, but was apparently basically a farm at this date. The 1591 commentary refers to it as'clene fallen downe', but the materials may have been removed as early as the mid 15th century.

The full Level 3 report, which summarises the documentary evidence for the Manor, together with an earthwork plan at 1:1000 scale, is held in the archive. (4)

<1> Arch Cant 94 1978 282 (T Tatton-Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE36199.

<2> Moated Sites Res Gp 6 1979 46 (ed C J Bond) (OS Card Reference). SKE47252.

<3> Tithe Map Chiddingstone 1839 Maidstone Rec Office (OS Card Reference). SKE50574.

<4> F1 ASP 28-JAN-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42332.

<5> Field report for monument TQ 54 SW 18 - January, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE2743.

Sources and further reading