Boarzell House, Ticehurst

Description

Old Boarzell moat lies within the Eastern Wealds, forming one of a group of medieval moated sites which cluster in the clay vales of the region. The moat survives comparatively well, despite infilling and some modern disturbance, and part excavation and survey has shown that it contains building foundations, buried archaeological remains and waterlogged deposits relating to the construction, development and use of the monument over at least seven centuries.
The monument includes a medieval moated site situated in a shallow clay valley which forms part of the Sussex Weald. It now has the appearance of a slightly raised platform covering an area of around 0.25ha. However part excavation and a comprehensive survey of the monument and the historical and cartographic sources which relate to it have shown that it originally took the form of a roughly north-south aligned, rectangular artificial island surrounded by a water-filled ditch. The analysis of pottery sherds found during the excavation suggests that it was constructed during the late-13th or early-14th centuries and subsequently underwent at least one phase of major redevelopment. Buildings on the island included a large, jettied domestic range constructed around a courtyard in the south eastern corner, and, during the 17th and 18th centuries, an associated brewhouse. During the post-medieval period the main access to the island was provided by a stone-built bridge which spanned the northern arm of the moat, with subsidiary access via a smaller bridge across the southern ditch. The island was bounded by a defensive curtain wall. Records suggest that the buildings were demolished and the moat infilled in 1859. (Scheduling Report)

Site of a moated house dated by excavated finds to late C13 or early C14. The monument consists of a rectangular moat which contained a house and other buildings. The buildings were demolished and the moat filled in in 1859. (PastScape)
The site of Boarzell is indicated by a low amorphous platform c 40.0m square, surrounded by marshy ground. Excavation trenches are still exposed. A plan dated 1849 in Lewes Record Office shows the house in the SE corner of the moated area. (PastScape. ref. Field Investigators Comments–F1 PAS 08-JAN-73)