Monument record 565 - Great Sankey moated site

A possible moat, 'Manerium de pele de Great Sankey' (1). The Pele was noted in the Legh survey of 1466 when it was held by Ranulph, son and heir of Matthew Rixton by Knight service (Legh MSS fol 4.1). It was described as 'the Manor of Peel...with chambers, kitchen, two barns, byre with stable, hay barn with turf store, with apple orchard and yards, surrounded by a palisade ditch'. The Pele was depicted on Speede's map of 1610. The Tithe map gives no clear evidence for a moated site. The site of the Pele is likely to be occupied either by modern housing or within an open space used as a playing field. There are no surviving buildings or surface evidence for a moat (2).

<1> Cheshire County Council, 1974, County Treasures Record, 1/AR.169 (Index). SCH1000.

<2> Lewis J, 2000, The Medieval Earthworks of the Hundred of West Derby (Monograph). SCH3778.