Shifted Medieval Village Earthworks and Moat - Easthorpe
This site comprises the land on which Easthorpe Manor and buildings stand and also the large grass close to the east of the manor.
Scheduled Ancient Monument – National Monument No. 17403
Location SK 8114 3868
See notes and map in The Medieval Earthworks of North-East Leicestershire, 1987
English Heritage provide the following description:
The settlement at Easthorpe includes village earthworks and a high status manorial site. Although part of this settlement has continued in use to the present day, with consequent disturbance to the earlier remains, an extensive complex of village closes and the moat survive in good condition. Together these will retain considerable archaeological potential for understanding development and change in medieval rural village settlements.
Shifted medieval village earthworks are located at Easthorpe on the south side of the village of Bottesford, with an associated moated site adjoining on the western side. The earthworks are located on the east side of the present village of Bottesford and lie within a rectangular parcel of land measuring approximately 275m by 250m. The village remains are identifiable as a series of house plots, gardens and closes subdivided by a network of ditches. The whole monument is bounded on the south side by the Manor Road and on the east side by drainage ditches and the River Devon. On the north-west side the cross- cutting of ditches indicates at least two separate phases of construction. On the west side the earthworks are preserved as far as the houses which face Easthorpe Road. The moat occurs in the south-western corner of the monument. It is circular with a diameter of 130m and is partly bounded by the main road which respects the western edge of the moat. The moat ditch is up to 10m wide and 1.5m deep and is infilled on the east side. Two entrances on the north and south sides are considered to be original access points. Manor Farm house occupies the southern area of the moat and, just to the west of this, foundations of an earlier building have been recorded. A prominent house platform with a pronounced hollow, measuring 15m by 12m, is situated to the west of Manor Farm house. There is also evidence of low earthworks in the northern half of the island. Excluded from the scheduling are the standing buildings of Manor Farm and metalled trackways on the moat island but the ground beneath all these features is included.
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