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)
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