Monument record 668/1/1 - Belmont Moat

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ67 NE 6 - 1964 (Index). SCH2487.

Belmont Moat. A well preserved homestead moat; largely waterfilled, with near vertical scarps c.1m deep to water level. Interior heavily overgrown. No trace of buildings.

<2> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester (Book). SCH1389.

Granted to Norton Priory by Geoffrey Dutton temp. Henry I.

<3> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, vol .II p.109 (Book). SCH3228.

Field names Abbey Field & Abbots Meadow are associated.

<4> Wilson D et al, 1973-1986, Moated Sites Research Group Records, 1973 (Paper Archive). SCH2205.

Field survey by D.Wilson on 5.10.1973 recorded single rectangular moat with causeway. Moat c.4.5m to 20m wide & probably c.1.5m deep. No buildings in interior & site is overgrown.

<5> County Historic Environment Record, 1973-1985, Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin, Archer A & Wilson D 1974 in: No. 2 p.7 Fig 2 (Journal/Periodical). SCH565.

Five-sided island measuring up to 90m x 60m is surr by waterlogged moat varying from 4.5-30m in width x 1.5m deep. Sides are near vertical and c1m to water level. Access is via causeway on west side. Outer bank flanks N & most of W arm of moat; varies from 7m wide x 1m high to 4m wide x 0.3m high.

<6> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1018593 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Belmont moated site and fishpond. The site includes a five-sided island measuring up to 90m x 60m and surrounded by a rectangular waterlogged moat of widths varying between 4.5m - 30m x 1.5m deep. The moat sides are near vertical and c.1m deep to the water level. Access to the island is by a causeway on the western side. An outer bank flanks the north and much of the western arms of the moat. It measures 7m wide x 1m high adjacent to the north arm, and 4m high x 0.3m wide adjacent to the western arm. In Moat Covert, immediately north of the northern outer bank, is a rectangular waterlogged fishpond measuring some 90m x 30m x 1m deep. The site was granted to Norton Priory by Geoffrey Dutton during the reign of Henry I. It was part of a medieval monastic grange. Field names Abbey Field and Abbots Meadow are associated with the site. All field boundaries and a length of netting and posts flanking the moat's southern arm are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath these features is included.

<7> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1995, Evaluation of the Environmental Potential of Sediments at Belmont Moated Site, Great Budworth, Cheshire (Unpublished Report). SCH6905.

In 1995 sediments from the moated site at Belmont Hall, Great Budworth were examined, described and selectively analysed for pollen content, with a view to assessing whether detailed analytical work was needed before proposed cleaning of the moat. Results indicate that there may have been some dredging in the past and only the very basal layers are original . These contain an unusual juxtaposition of cereal and heather pollens, suggesting either crop processing on site, or deliberate soil improvement which enabled the planting of cereals on previously acid land.