Burgh Manor House, Burrough Green

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Park Wood

In the civil parish of Burrough Green. In the historic county of Cambridgeshire (Modern Authority of Cambridgeshire, 1974 county of Cambridgeshire).

A double rectangular moat at Park Wood. The main enclosure is 180 ft by 250 ft surrounded by a wet moat between 18 to 25 ft wide and 10 ft deep (see plan). Inside it brick foundations are said to have been dug up which could be the site of the manor house of Burgh. On the west side there is a secondary rectangular area surrounded by a dry ditch which has almost the same dimensions as the main enclosure but is less deep and has no banks. (VCH, 1948). A sub-rectangular homestead moat situated on high ground to the north of Park Wood. The secondary enclosure visible on St Joseph APs to the west has been ploughed out, but its course is marked by slight soil variation. The main moat measures overall 104m north-south by 84.0m east to west the arms averaging 12.0m wide by 3.2m deep. The water level is maintained by surface drainage with the original causewayed entrance across the east arm. The interior, which is now ploughed, appears to have been dug, possibly for building stone, though a dense scatter of medieval tile is still visible on the surface. An inner bank on the south side has been formed down to 0.4m high and an outer bank on the west side is now visible as a slight lift in plough (Field Investigator). Burrough Green is recorded in the early C11, and the earliest manor house probably stood on the Saxon moated site in Park Wood (VCH 1978). (PastScape)
A 'park for woodland beasts' at Burrough Green is recorded in Domeday. The VCH (1978) suggests the Park Wood moat is Saxon in origin. I find this hard to comprehend as I would expect the original Saxon manorial centre to be by the parish church. The moat most probably dated to around 1330 when Thomas de Burgh was granted a licence to impark his wood of Burgh.
Despite being a well preserved moat still holding water, and this suggestion of Saxon origin–which, if true, would make it exceptional, it was totally destroyed in 1983 after it was decided not to schedule the monument. Not even cropmarks are visible in the ploughed field where it was located. This complete destruction of a historic monument was entirely legal and should not be compared to the criminal damage done by anomic and alienated individuals who paint or scratch their names on buildings.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL641549

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 377252
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 01148 '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.

• Books
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p41
    Wright, A.P.M. (ed), 1978, VCH Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Vol6 p141-2 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66716
    Phillips, 1948, in Salzman, L.F. (ed), VCH Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Vol2 p18-19
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • CPR (1327-30) p553
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Brian Cushion. 2002. Document detailing new earthwork discoveries