More information : Area: NZ 3461 1100 Manor House [NR]
Moat [NR]
Intrenchment [NR] (1)
The manor-house of Dinsdale is mentioned in 1537. The present manor-house is mainly Georgian and occupies the ancient site. It stands within a square enclosure surrounded by double-moats. Late 19th century excavations revealed the foundations of a large gate-house of late-12th century date which had contained vaulting and a newel stair. (2-4)
The name of the present house was confirmed to be `Manor House'. It has been heavily restored, the north front being modern and the south and east walls covered by imitation timber-framing. The west wall and north-west wing are built with rubble masonry. Photographs in the owner's possession show the 1878 excavations as immediately east of the present house and a 1716 painting shows a gate-house to the south east. All the earthworks are grass-covered and the construction of the banks is not visible. The inner and outer moats have been divided into enclosures by intermediate banks and ditches. (5-5a)
Earthworks surveyed at 1/2500. (6)
NZ 345 110. Deserted Medieval Village of Low Dinsdale. (7-8)
No change to the manor house earthworks, but the extensions on the east side have been ploughed out. These probably represented remnants of tenants tofts rather than those of a village. Published survey (25") revised. (9)
NZ 346 110 Manor House (NAT)
Earthworks (NR) (10)
NZ 346 109. Earthworks of Manor House. Scheduled. (11)
The Manor House. Manor house, probably late Medieval core; encased and extended c1876. This was the home of the Surtees family from the early 12th century until the 19th century. Grade II*. (12)
Existing survey revised by RCHME during a project on scheduled monuments in County Durham.
The earthworks comprise an outer polygonal enclosure defined by a ditch up to 1.5 m deep, fronting an earthen bank standing up to 2.5 m high above the ditch bottom. The inner scarp of the bank is 1.8 m high; some stone is visible in the matrix of the bank. What may have been an early entrance through the outer enclosure is located in the south-east where a hollow way 1.2 m deep leads into the interior. In the north half of the enclosure is a sub-circular moat surrounding the manor house. The broad U-shaped moat is up to 2 m deep, has been converted into an ornamental pond on its north side, and is crossed by a bridge to the south-south-east. Between the outer enclosure and the moat lie a series of scarps and banks, some linear, some irregular, and no higher than 1.3 m, which cut across one another without forming a coherent pattern. They are all truncated by the outer perimeter and/or the moat, suggesting that they may represent preserved fragments of earlier land divisions or village earthworks. Between the moat and Low Dinsdale farm a 33 m square levelled area is defined by scarps up to 0.6 m high, and is shown on the OS map of 1914 as a fenced area; this may originally have been a tennis court, bowling green or garden feature. The present manor house is superficially of 19th century Domestic Revival style, but may have earlier Medieval features beneath the exterior (13a). Late 19th century excavations immediately to the north-east of the manor-house discovered `the foundations and lower story (sic) of a large gate-house' which had a `square newel stairway and chambers which had been vaulted' (13b). The excavations were rapidly backfilled without being planned. This would suggest that originally access across the inner moat may have been a temporary bridge in the north-east which has left no trace; the stone bridge which crosses the moat in the south would thus appear to be a later feature. (13)
NZ 3460 1099. Medieval moated manorial site of Low Dinsdale at the Manor House. Scheduled RSM No 20873. (14)
Listed as a strong house by Cathcart King. (15) |