OLD MADELEY MANOR

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DESCRIPTION

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Ruins of a medieval moated manor house, documented during the 14th and 15th century, and nearly destroyed in 1749. The remains comprise a fragment of sandstone walling, possibly from the gatehouse. The wall stands to a maximum height of just over three metres and contains a fireplace and part of a doorway with a portcullis groove. The remains of a number of fishponds lie to the west of the moated site and there are traces of possible garden earthworks to the north east. A licence to crenellate was granted in 1348, though the present remains are thought to date from the 15th/early 16th century.

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(SJ 77304229) Old Madeley Manor (NR). (1)

Old Manor House remains. Originally a fine and spacious house but only some stonework with an arched doorway survives. Grade II (2). It was practically destroyed in 1749 (3).

Homestead Moat. Square with moat and four shallow trenches and single moat; part wet - 340' x 340'. Angle moat, 280' x 140' Situated north-east (west) of Madeley Manor ruins. (4)

The ruins of Old Madeley Manor consist of a length of ashlar sandstone walling, 14.0m long, 6.0m in height, containing an arched doorway and fireplace. See ground photograph. The house was surrounded by a rectangular moat, about 105.0m across, E-W, by 95.0m transversely, of which the N arm and most of the W arm survive, the arms being 14.0m in width and 1.5m to 2.0m in depth. The course of the S arm can be traced by a faint depression in the pasture, and of the E arm, the inner slope partially remains extant. The original causewayed entrance at the NE corner, across the N arm, is approached by a raised track, 80.0m in length across low-lying ground to the N. To the W of the moated site are four rectangular fishponds, two lying along the S side and two, along the E side of a sub-square enclosure. The ponds average 10.0m in width and 1.2m in depth, two are 32.0m in length and two are 46.0m in length, and all four are contained within a broad, flat-topped retaining bank of spoil, 25.0m in width, 0.5m in average height. All are dry, or boggy in places. Published 1:2500 survey revised. (5)

A moated site comprising a rectangular moat, with south and east sides now filled in, and two possible fishponds running parallel to the west and south sides (6). Hammer (7) describes it as a double moated site. Licence to crenellate was granted in 1348 and there is later reference to the Old Manor House in 1422-3, which may indicate that the house was falling into disuse at the time. The south half of the entrance gateway survives in the east half of the enclosure as a red sandstone wall of unknown date. This consists of a double-chamfered arch flanked by a pillar with capital and voussoir on the exterior face, and a portcullis slot. Traces of further buildings can be detected west of the gatehouse. (6-7)

SJ 773423. The entrance gateway to Old Madeley was recorded for the D.O.E., prior to consolidation, in Aug. 1979. The site comprises a rectangular moat (the south and east sides now filled in) and two possible fish ponds running parallel to the west and south ditches. A well of red sandstone. 5.76m. long and 4.68m. high, comprised the south half of the entrance gateway. The date of this surviving masonry is unknown; traces of further buildings are detectable west of the gatehouse. (8-10). Scheduled as a secular building (11).

Old Madeley Manor. Manor house, remains of . Medieval probably 15th.c. or early-16th c. Coursed red sandstone. Only a fragment of of walling survives to a maximum height of just over 3.0m. Impressive moats or fishponds lie to the north and west and other earthworks. Scheduled Ancient Monument. Listed Grade 2. (12-13)

SJ 7730 4229 (GCE) site of former moated manor house and gardens of Old Madeley Manor are as described by the above Authorities. In addition, a building platform was noted on the N side of the valley which could simply represent a former field barn, but more probably was the site of a lodge or temple overlooking the manorial gardens.

The above description is summarised from a detailed level 3 RCHME 1:1000 scale survey conducted in July 1991. The results of the survey are held in the NMR archive. (14)

SOURCE TEXT

(1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1925

(2) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

DOE (HHR) Newcastle-under-Lyme RD Staff, March 1961 8

(3) The North Staffordshire Field Club transactions

84 (1950) Page(s)120

(4) The Victoria history of the counties of England

Staffordshire 1 (1908) Page(s)365

(5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 ASP 22-NOV-74

(6) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

(J Collens) 24 (1980) Page(s)259

(7) Staffordshire archaeology

(M E Hammer) 3 (1974) Page(s)31

(7a) General reference

Staffs Receivers Accs 1422-3

(8) Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit [annual] report

(J Collens) 2 (1979) Page(s)10

(9) Council for British Archaeology Group 8: West Midlands newsletter

(J Collens) 22 (1979) Page(s)14

(10) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

(L E Webster, J Cherry) 24 (1980) Page(s)259

(11) by Department of the Environment, Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings London 1978 List of ancient monuments in England: Volume 1, Northern England; Volume 2, Southern England; Volume 3, East Anglia and the Midlands

DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 3 1978 98 3 Page(s)98

(12) Moated Sites Research Group report

11 (1984) Page(s)27

(13) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

DOE (HHR) Boro Newcastle-Under-Lyme Staffs 14.5.85 68

(14) Field Investigators Comments

Malcolm Reid, Paul Everson and Wayne Cocroft/JUL-1991/RCHME: Old Madeley Manor

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