More information : [SJ 4114753] Site of GRANGE COW WORTH [GT] MOAT [GT] (1) "The monks of Stanlaw [SJ 47 NW 1] built a Grange here which on the removal of the Convent to Whalley, in 1296 was left in the custody of one monk called Roger Harefoot, or Pes Leparis (a). The site of the Grange was selected in the best point the township affords, and an artificial terrace still existing was formed adjacent to it, about 200 yds in length. The spot is called Grange-Cow-Worth, probably the same as Cowhouse, and contains six statute acres, which nearly form a square, surrounded by a deep moat still filled with water. Traces of extensive buildings are occasionally laid bare by the plough, and a large pavement was removed some years ago, for the repairs of the adjacent roads". (2) "Cistercian Grange founded 1172. It was one of three important granges attached to Stanlaw and Whalley [SJ 47 NW] and about 1296 there was a resident monk at Stanney.(b)" (3) There is no trace of foundations. All that remains are the SE and SW sides of a square enclosure bounded by a wide shallow ditch which does not have the appearance of a moat. Published survey (1/1250) revised. (4) A rescue excavation was commenced in 1966 on behalf of the MPBW.(5) Excavated by Grosvenor Museum (for DOE). Timber and stone structures, presumably outbuildings, and drainage gullies within the moat; this was sectioned. Finds were C15th and later, with some earlier material including late-Saxon sherds (two of Chester ware). (6) Earthwork no longer extant. (7) A moated site established between 1178 and 1283. When inspected in 1965 on behalf of the Grosvenor Museum, the S.E. arm of the moat was visible as a water-logged depression over which the entrance ran the upcast still faintly discernible as a bank within the enclosure. The S.W. arm was conjecturable along a field boundary, but there were no obvious signs of the other arms. Excavations, 1966-7, revealed several different phases of building but it was impossible to differentiate one building from another, to distinguish those of the medieval period from the post-medieval, or to assign them with confidence to a precise period. Site built over and land levelled by 1972. (8)
|