| More information : [SJ 4368 6059] MOAT [G.T.] (1)
"Hugh de Pulford ... (mentioned 1286)(a) probably lived in the house of which the moat still remains, close to Bruera Church". He is described as the holder of the vill of Buerton. (2)
A writ dated 31st Janaury 8 Henry VI (1429-30) "shews that the moated site at Buerton, lying immediately to the north-west of the Church of Bruera, was the Manor House ...... [The description] suggests a house of at least nine rooms, while the reference to the drawbridge and the hall door shews that it was no mere peasant's dwelling". The order to Sir Thomas le Grosvenor to repair to his lands in Churton Heath and put them into a proper state of defence against Owen Glyndowr, (issued in 1403-4)(b) probably refers to the moated site adjoining the church of Bruera (p. 11). (3)
"Moated site at Bruera" has been added to the list of scheduled monuments, number Cheshire 48. (4)
A rectilinear, grass covered homestead moat situated in fairly flat land. Now dry, it is well defined on all but the east side, where it has been largely destroyed partly by a garden, and partly by a modern road. On the north side, the best preserved portion, it has an upper width of 11.0m, and a lower width of 1.6m. The depth of the ditch here being 1.3m from the inside, and 1.0m from the outside. The outer bank extends round the three remaining sides, and averages 1.0m in height. The interior buildings are modern, and no trace of former foundations, or of a causeway across the moat was found. A 25" survey has been made. (5)
Rectangular homestead most; no change since report of 11.8.59.
Published 1:2500 survey, 1960, still correct. (6)
The main moated enclosure is sub-rectangular, almost square, in plan, measuring about 85m east-west by 80m-85m north-south overall; it may even have been more regular before damage to its east arm and south-east corner which are infilled/pushed by the road and modern buildings on the platform. This apart, the moat is well-preserved. The west and south arms are wider than the north arm, but contrary to the implication inherent in authority 5's statement that this is because the north arm is the best preserved, this difference may be original with the former designed to hold broader sheets of water against an outflow or sluice in the south-west corner. All three surviving arms have an external bank, most clearly defined on the north. The platform within the moat measures approximately 65m by 45m-55m, and stands 0.5m above the external ground surface. The original entrance and drawbridge mentioned by authority 3 presumably lay on the east side in the area now lying beneath modern gardens. The moat lies at the eastern edge of a larger rectilinear enclosure defined to north, west and south by a slight scarp up to 0.6m high, which probably represents the curia or outer court associated with the moat. This is subdivided into closes containing short, broad ridges with sharp edges, which are probably raised cultivation beds rather than conventional ridge and furrow, furlongs of which lie adjacent to the outer enclosure. Three rectangular ponds in the northern close are aligned on the moat, and appear original rather than later marl pits/beast ponds. A fourth rectangular pond lies a little west of the apparent south-west angle of the curia, perhaps indicating that the curia here stepped out west to the modern hedged boundary and included a further close to the west. Buildings are shown on the 1838 Tithe Award (7a) lying adjacent to Chapel Lane immediately south of the moat. Whilst these may be late road-side encroachment into the curia, they might equally represent reused ancillary structures to the moated residence. No large house is mentioned in the 1663 Hearth Tax returns (7b), indicating that the site was probably already abandoned by this time. Earthworks surveyed by RCHME at 1:1000 scale; see plans and level 3 descriptive text deposited in the NMR. (7)
A medieval field system and moated site is visible as earthworks on historic vertical photography and lidar imagery in the parish of Buerton, centred at SJ 436 605. The church at Bruera is first documented in the Chartulary of Chester Abbey as being surrendered by Robert, Steward of Earl Ranulf II, between 1141-57 in return for abbot Ralph ceding to Robert the abbey’s claim to the vill of Lea (cum Newbold). The following entry into the Chartulary records Robert de Pulford ceding to the abbey his claim to the church of Bruera and the adjacent croft which lies “between the garden of the said church and the highway going from his house towards the vill of Lea (cum Newbold).”. The highway referred to likely relates to Platts Lane which runs directly from the moated site through the north of the parish of Lea Newbold, while the croft likely refers to the glebe laid of the church that Platts Lane circumvents. If this is the case, then the location of Robert de Pulford’s house fits with the moated site situated at the end of Platts Lane, providing documentary evidence for the existence of a manor house at the site over two-hundred years earlier than previously recognised (ie. RCHME 1986). The site is extant on the latest 2016 vertical photography and was mapped as part of the Cheshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping Project. (8-9)
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