The Gatehouse website record for Hartley Court, Burnham

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Harlequins Castle; Hardicanute's Moat; Burnham Beeches moat

In the civil parish of Burnham. In the historic county of Buckinghamshire (Modern Authority of Buckinghamshire, 1974 county of Buckinghamshire).

Hartley Court is a sub-rectangular medieval moated island, covering 0.6 hectares, which is situated within a larger, diamond-shaped enclosure of 3.7 hectares. The island is surrounded by a broad ditch, measuring 5 metres to 7 metres in width and about 1.5 metres in depth, which retains water for much of the year supplied by rainfall and the natural water table. The interior is subdivided by several banks, measuring on average 2.5 metres in width and 0.8 metres high; including a main partition orientated north to south across the middle of the island. A second bank runs parallel to the northern section of the main partition, and the intervening area contains some slight undulations which suggest the position of former structures. This has been suggested as the as the location of the principal dwelling. A range of outbuildings is indicated by three low, square platforms abutting the inner moat bank near the south eastern corner of the island. In the north eastern corner of the moat is a well. The uneven appearance of the ground surface in this location together with the proximity of the well implies the locations of other domestic buildings which are likely to include kitchens, brew and bake houses. The outer enclosure is bounded by a bank and external ditch. The bank averages 3 metres wide and 0.7 metres high and the ditch is generally the same width and about 0.6 metres deep. The boundary earthworks are designed to keep stock, and other animals grazing the surrounding wood pasture out of the enclosure. This would protect cultivated land within the enclosure providing produce for the homestead. (PastScape)
This is a large moated site for a homestead site, with an occasionally used castle placename, but there no signs of other fortification, such as curtain walling. The site is associated with a medieval deerpark.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU94618568

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 251543
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 0052400000 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

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