Scheduled Ancient Monument: MOATED SITE AT GRANGE FARM (21310)

The monument includes a moated site comprising two conjoined moated enclosures of unequal size, situated on level ground at the northern end of the parish of Dennington. The small enclosure, which is to the south east of Grange Farm House and is almost certainly the earlier in date, survives as an unoccupied island of irregular plan with maximum dimensions of 25m north - south by 20m east - west, largely surrounded by a water-filled moat approximately 2m deep and measuring between 7m and 11m in width. Access is provided by a wide causeway on the western side. The south eastern corner of the moat extends outward into an irregular pond, and the western arm north of the causeway has been enlarged externally to make another. The eastern arm of the moat extends northward into a ditch approximately 47m long, ranging from 5m to 7m in width, and up to 2m deep, and this extension forms the eastern arm of a second and much larger moat which surrounds three sides of a sub-rectangular enclosure to the north of Grange Farm House and the smaller enclosure. The larger enclosure has internal dimensions of up to 102m east - west by 93m north - south, and the moat ditch around its west, north sides, and north east sides is generally narrower and more regular in form than that of the smaller moat, measuring from 4m to 7m in width and having an average depth of approximately 2m. The ditch is silted but still wet, with a seasonally variable depth of water, and the eastern arm is divided by a central causeway. Within the south eastern corner of the large enclosure, in the angle defined by the north arm of the smaller moat, is a flat-topped earthen mound or broad bank approximately 0.7m high, terraced steeply on the western side, and sloping gently towards the edges of the moats to the south and east. This earthwork has the appearance of a prospect mound, providing a vantage point from which to view a 16th or 17th century formal garden occupying the large enclosure to the north and north west. It is bordered on the northern side by a dry east - west ditch measuring up to 4m in width. Grange Farm House and its outbuildings are excluded from the scheduling, as are the driveway and paths and all garden walls, posts, fences and gates, including those around the lawn tennis court, also excluded is a modern footbridge across the north arm of the smaller moat, but the ground beneath all these buildings and features is included.