| More information : (SJ 41976347) Moat (NR) (1)
"In 1772 Huntington Hall belonged to Richard Williams, Esq. of Mold ...... All trace of the ancient manor house has disappeared. There is, however, a moat still left in a piece of land adjoining the present hall, and within it the mansion stood" (2)
About two miles south of Chester..... is a moated site between the road to Aldford and the river, in which stands the farmhouse known as Huntington Hall". William Webb in the early 17th century describes it as "a very neat house of timber". A deed of 1589 gave the purchaser power to pull down the then existing hall, evidently a timber structure, but it seems unlikely that this was done, as the sale of the "Hall of Huntington" in mentioned in 1648. (3)
Huntington Hall is scheduled as an ancient monument, Cheshire 40. (4)
[SJ 42026348] Foundations of a building and the remains of a well have been encountered when digging in the orchard [Site indicated to investigator]. The present house is now known as Old Hall, Huntington (5a). No trace of any building exists in the area indicated by authority 5a. The land in the vicinity is slightly higher than the remainder of the moated area and a likely site for the house referred to in authorities 2 and 3. The moat has an average width of 10.0m. and a maximum depth of 2.0m. It is water-filled except for the eastern half of the south side. The southern part of the east side had been widened to form a pond. There is an outer bank on all sides except the east. This bank has an average width of 7.0m. and varies in height from 0.4m. to 0.8m. A shallow ditch running N-S divides the enclosed area in two. This ditch, which is dry, has an average width of 12.0m. and a depth of 0.6m. It is probably the remains of an inner moat. Access to the enclosed area is by stone bridge at SJ 42046347 and by modern causeway at SJ 42036342. The bridge is of single span with segmented arch. It has no dateable features but its proximity to the probable site of the Hall suggests that it may be the original entrance. None of the existing farm building shows any trace of antiquity and the farmhouse is apparently of late 18th/early 19th century date. (5)
Old Hall is owned by the Liverool Corporation Water Department, although still occupied by Mr. J. Bate as tenant. The moat is now entirely dry except for the S portion of the E side which has been widened to form a pond. Some filling in has also taken place close to the SE angle which has been used as a rubbish dump. The moat is otherwise as described by authy 5, SJ 4202 6347. The site of the building foundations unearthed by Mr. Bate within the moated area was indicated to the investigator on the ground and has been surveyed on 25" AM. A 25" AM re-survey has also been made of the moat. (6)
Published survey (25" 1960) revised. (7)
A double homestead moat, as described by Geary (5) and Davies (6), it measures, overall, 180.0m E-W by 120.0m transversely. The site is largely wooded and in fair condition. Within the SW corner of the moat, are three rectangular waterfilled medieval fishponds forming three sides of a square open to the E. The W pond measures 28.0m by 7.0m, the S pond, 14.0m by 5.0m, and the N pond, being low in water, is of irregular shape, but approximates to the S pond.
Published 1:2500 survey revised (on permatrace). (8)
(SJ 4197 6347) Huntington Hall (NR) (site of) (NAT) (9)
The moat is probably the site of the Abbot of Chester's grange at Huntington referred to in 1348 (10a). The manor of Huntington and Cheaveley was held by St Werburgh's Abbey at Chester throughout the medieval period. The manor was sold at the Dissolution, subsequently passing through several ownerships. A timber house (Huntington Hall) within the moat is mentioned in both 16th and 17th century documents; the present house, Old Hall, south of the moat is apparently of late 18th/early 19th century date. The moat lies at 20m above OD about 600m east of the River Dee. It is sub-rectilinear in plan, measuring overall 160m-165m east-west by about 110m north-south at its east end; but whereas the other three arms of the moat are straight, the west end of the north arm curves gently inwards. This may be due to the local fall of the ground and the need to maintain water flow through the moat. Much of the moat is now dry except where water is retained as part of modern garden landscaping. There is an outer bank, typically 7m-8m broad and 0.4m-0.8m high, around almost the complete moated circuit. The interior is divided into three sections or compartments by two north-south ditches, with the central section further subdivided between south and north by an east-west ditch. The eastern north-south ditch is comparable to the main moat in both width and for its southernmost 30m also in depth, but north of this is only about 0.5m deep; the western ditch is no more than 5m wide and generally less than 0.5m deep except at its south end where it is joined by the east-west ditch subdividing the central compartment. It is possible that these features indicate that the original moated area was confined to the eastern compartment, and was later extended west. There is now no surface indication of the building in the easternmost compartment recorded by authority 5a, but there is no certainty that this was part of the principal residence. The three fishponds mentioned by authority 8 in the south-west corner of the site survive as earthworks up to 1m deep. The moat may formerly have been associated with a park (SK 46 SW 48). The site was surveyed at 1:1000 scale by RCHME in August 1985. The above description is summarised from a descriptive text held with full survey information in the NMR. (10)
A medieval moated site is visible as earthworks on historic vertical photography and lidar imagery in the parish of Huntingdon, centred at SJ 4196 6346. Earthworks include fishponds and internal partitioning within the moated site. The site is recorded as having been a monastic grange prior to the Dissolution. This is extant on the latest 2017 vertical photography and was mapped as part of the Cheshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping Project. (11)
|