Scheduled Ancient Monument: NORTH GRANGE MOATED SITE (21438)

The monument includes a moated site which is located 150m to the south of North Grange Farmhouse, on a hill above the valley of the River Yox. To the south east of the moat, on the lower slopes of the valley, are the ruins of Sibton Abbey, a foundation of the Cistercian order established in 1150, which is the subject of a separate scheduling. The eastern and southern arms of the moat, which are water-filled and range from about 10m to 15m in width, enclose two sides of a rectangular central platform measuring approximately 67m north-south by 40m and raised up to 0.4m above the prevailing ground surface. A third arm of the moat, enclosing the western side of the platform, is now largely infilled but can be traced as a slight linear depression about 13m wide in the ground surface. The northern arm has become completely infilled but, although no longer visible, it will survive as a buried feature. The probable line of the inner edge of both this and the western arm is marked by a later field ditch about 2m wide which connects with an outlet drain issuing from the north end of the eastern arm. In the south western corner of the central platform, and included in the scheduling, there is a circular, brick built tank and other brick and concrete remains of a 19th century filter pumping system which formerly supplied water to the house now known as Sibton Abbey, 820m to the south west. In deeds relating to the sale of Sibton Abbey and its adjoining lands in the early 17th century, North Grange is referred to as a former cell of this abbey.