Summary
A medieval moated site traditionally associated with the de Odingsells family, who held the Manor of Ulverley from the 12th century, including evidence for a causeway and an internal bank.
Reasons for Designation
Hob’s Moat, 60m north of Castle Lane, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Period: a class of monument which is important for the understanding of the distribution of wealth and status in the countryside in the medieval period;
* Survival: the moated site is relatively little altered, with the ditches and earthworks surviving well, despite its use as a public open space over many years, and is a good surviving example of its class;
* Potential: the site has significant potential for both occupation and environmental evidence;
* Historic interest: as the probable former residence of the de Odingsells family, who held the Manor of Ulverley from the 12th century.
History
Roughly 6,000 moated sites are known in England. They consist of wide ditches, often or seasonally water-filled, partly or completely enclosing one or more islands of dry ground on which stood domestic or religious buildings. In some cases the islands were used for horticulture. The majority of moated sites served as prestigious aristocratic and seigneurial residences with the provision of a moat intended as a status symbol rather than a practical military defence. The peak period during which moated sites were built was between about 1250 and 1350 and by far the greatest concentration lies in central and eastern parts of England. However, moated sites were built throughout the medieval period, are widely scattered throughout England and exhibit a high level of diversity in their forms and sizes.
Hob’s Moat is of medieval origin although its date of construction and first occupation is uncertain. It is traditionally associated with the de Odingsells family who held the Manor of Ulverley from the 12th century. Archaeological excavation indicates that Hob’s Moat was occupied until the end of the 13th or the early 14th century. The antiquary Sir William Dugdale (1605-86) visited the site in 1656 and found “a large Moat” and was told by local inhabitants that a castle there had long since been removed. Hob's Moat is marked on Beighton's Map of Warwickshire (1725 ) as a moated site with the symbol for a demolished castle. It is marked as Hog's Moat and Odensils. In 1782 traces of the moat remained and trees were planted on the earthworks around this time. The site is shown marked as Hob’s Moat on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1888.
In 1985-88 a community project carried out an archaeological evaluation and conservation project on the site. Approximately seven per cent of the site was excavated, followed by restoration and conservation work to the banks. In 2019 Hob’s Moat continues to serve as a public open space.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
The monument is situated on the north facing slope of a low hill within the outskirts of Solihull and includes a moated site, known as Hob's Moat, and the earthwork remains of a section of raised trackway.
DETAILS
The moated site has external dimensions of approximately 137m north to south and 115m east to west. The steep-sided moat ditches are dry and measure up to 15m wide and 2.5m deep. External banks are visible on all four sides of the moated site and, although the northern and eastern banks are reduced in height, they can be traced on the ground surface. The banks are approximately 12m wide at their base and have an average height of 1.8m.
The moated island is 0.5 hectares in area and slopes gradually from south to north. There is an internal enclosure bank on the west, north and east sides of the island, running parallel to the moat ditches; its height is greatest at the corners. The 1985 excavation across a section of the inner bank provided evidence for the bank's construction; deposits of stony clay mounded up over a sandy gravel core. A second bank was located beneath the inner one which consists of a sandy bank revetted on either side by bands of cobbles set in clay. This feature is earlier in date than the inner bank and employs a different construction technique. An excavation in the southern half of the moated island has indicated that the structures which originally occupied the island will survive as buried features. The remains of a small structure, bounded by walls set within shallow foundation slots, were located during the excavation. A number of fragments of 13th century pottery were also recovered.
Access onto the moated island is by means of a causeway midway along the eastern moat ditch. This corresponds with an adjacent break in the inner bank and is considered to be an original entrance. A second break in the bank is visible approximately 25m to the north of the causeway. An excavation within this break has recovered evidence for a collapsed sandstone wall, and suggested a late 13th century date for its construction. The remains of the wall had been overlaid by an area of cobbling, approximately 2m square, and this was thought to represent the base of a structure situated on the inside edge of the break in the bank. There is a third gap in the inner bank at the north-eastern corner of the moated site which is thought to be an original feature which allowed water to drain from the moated island itself into the moat.
Immediately alongside the northern side of Hob's Moat are the earthwork remains of a raised trackway. It is possibly a hollow way of medieval origin and may have run westwards to connect Hob's Moat with Castle Lane, which is mentioned in a documentary record of 1339 and runs to the west and south of the moated site. A later date for the feature was proposed following the 1985 excavation, however the date of the ditch/hollow way remains inconclusive. The hedgerow which defines the northern side of the trackway has been the subject of a species count which has indicated that it may be about 650 years old and, therefore, contemporary with the earliest references to Castle Lane. The visible earthworks of the raised trackway are included with the scheduled area to preserve the relationship between this feature and the moated site.
