Monument record MLI30065 - The Hermitage Moated Site

Summary

Medieval moated site, known as The Hermitage, located adjacent to Old Park Wood, Irnham.

Type and Period (6)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

A strongly defensive, low-lying rectangular platform surrounded by a substantial moat. The dimensions of the site are 70m (north-west to south-east) by 55m (north-east to south-west) and there are traces of enclosures in the swampy ground to the south-west. The water-filled arms of the moat are about 1.2m deep and have an average breadth of 9-10m. A substantial counterscarp bank exists all round. There is no trace of buildings on the surface, though these may survive as buried structures. Though intially thought to be a homestead moat or possible hunting lodge, the location close to the parish boundary may suggest an alternative interpretation of the site as a hermitage or leper hospital. {1}{2}{3} Hunting lodge in old park. {x} The moated enclosure is clearly visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken of this area. Further earthworks thought to represent an embanked water channel feeding the moat from a nearby stream to the north-west, are also visible running to the northern end of the moat. {4} This medieval moated site, known as the Hermitage, is located adjacent to Old Park Wood. Following the Norman Conquest, Irnham was held by Robert Pagenell and remained in his family until 1220, when it passed by marriage to the Luttrells. During the 15th century Irnham passed to the Hiltons and then to the Thimbleby family, who were recusants after the reformation. Irnham continued to be a centre of Catholocism until the 19th century. There are no known documentary references to a hermitage at Irnham in the medieval period. The present place-name may therefore date from later reuse of the site as a garden feature. The site survives well as a series of earthworks and buried deposits, in the form of a moated island with external banks, and an adjoining embanked enclosure situated adjacent to a south-flowing stream. The island is rectangular in plan, measuring 30m by 20m and is enclosed by a broad water-filled moat up to 14m in width. External banks measuring up to 6m in width and standing up to 1m in height line each moat arm. Water was formerly supplied to the moat from the adjacent stream; a channel at the northern corner of the moat provided a water inlet while an outlet, to return water to the stream, is situated at the eastern corner of the moat. At the southern corner of the moat an embanked channel curves westward from the moat and feeds into a roughly circular pond adjacent to the external bank of the south western moat arm. The pond, which still retains water, measures 9m by 8m and is thought to represent a fishpond. The pond lies within a rectangular enclosure, measuring 80m in length, which adjoins the south western side of the moat; it is bounded by a broad bank to the north-west and a low narrow bank to the south-east and south-west. Waterlogging in the moat and pond will preserve organic remains, such as timber, leather and seeds, which will give an insight into the domestic and economic activity on the site. The artificially raised banks will preserve evidence of the land use prior to their construction. Archaeological deposits on the island will include the buried remains of medieval buildings, possibly relating to a hermitage, which will tell us how the site was used during the Middle Ages and after. {5}

Sources/Archives (6)

  •  Unpublished Document: A.J. White. 1976. PARISH FILE. IRNHAM. -.
  •  Index: Ordnance Survey. Ordnance Survey Card Index. TF 02 NW: 33.
  •  Index: Lincolnshire County Council. Sites and Monuments Record Card Index. TF 02 NW: O.
  •  Scheduling Record: HBMC. 1979. AM 7. SAM 333.
  •  Map: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1992-1996. Lincolnshire National Mapping Programme. TF0126: LI.800.6.1-2.
  •  Scheduling Record: English Heritage. 1999. Revised scheduling document 31638. MPP 24.

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Location

Grid reference Centred TF 0106 2651 (220m by 256m) Estimated from Sources
Civil Parish CORBY GLEN, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE
Civil Parish IRNHAM, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE

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Record last edited

Feb 18 2026 2:22PM

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