More information : SP 074864 Moated site at Manor House, Birmingham. No 75. (1) There are no traces of a moat in the area which is developed with covered markets in the city centre. (2) Bradford's plan shows a circular water-filled moat at SP 07448642, the island some 70.0m across, the moat varying in width from 8.0 to 30.0m. The manor house is shown but not named. (3)
Detailed report on the watching brief carried out between 1973 and 1975, including an assessment of the nature and extent of the medieval borough of Birmingham from documentary sources. The moat was the home of the de Birmingham family. From the finds recovered the moat would seem to have been constructed in the C13. A length of sandstone wall was observed, which protruded into the moat and could have formed the base of a protruding oriel window, a tower or bridge abutment. The style of masonry suggests a C13 date. The date at which the medieval buildings were removed is not clear. Whether any had been demolished by the time the Francis family built a mansion within the moat in the C16 is not recorded. Documentary sources indicate changes to the buildings within the moat and the moat itself, with Birmingham Moat and Parsonage Moat (SP 08 SE 14) being connected by a watercourse which was apparently filled in between 1731-50. By 1816 Birmingham Moat had also been filled in and the existing buildings demolished. (4)
Summary reports on the watching brief. (5,6)
Medieval manor house possibly fortified. (7)
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