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Bessingham Moat Yard

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; The Castle; Moatyards

In the civil parish of Sustead. In the historic county of Norfolk (Modern Authority of Norfolk, 1974 county of Norfolk).

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
  Confidence: It is doubtful that this site was a medieval fortification or palace.   Earthworks remains.
King writes possible castle large low moated work. Liddiard writes is doubtful.
A moated enclosure exists at this location. It is known locally as 'The Castle' or 'Moatyards', and the bumpy interior was heavily overgrown until recent management. The internal earthwork features take the form of ridges and ditches running away towards the church. An associated mound has been recorded and the presence of clay pigeon fragments suggests it was used as a shooting mound at some point in the past. The moated enclosure, earthworks and mound have not been securely dated. It seems unlikely that the mound is prehistoric as suggested by some sources, but the enclosure could be the remnants of a medieval manorial site or deserted settlement. (Norfolk HER)
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TG16363723

Air Photo from multimap logo

Air Photo and general mapping

1st edition OS Map from old maps logo

Mid to late 19th century maps

Modern Map from Ordnance Survey logo

Landscape form and features

Modern Map from streetmap logo

General location and route planning

Geograph British Isles geography.org.uk logo
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 131954
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 6593 '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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This record last updated on Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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