Moat Walls, 2 Bridges Across Moat, Garden Wall And Gate Piers At Low Butterby Farm

The site comprises moated walls, two bridges across the moat, a garden wall, and gate piers at Low Butterby Farm. A drained moat surrounds a roughly rectangular enclosure measuring approximately 50 by 70 metres, with a farmhouse at the south corner.

The moated walls are late medieval in origin, constructed of squared rubble with 19th-century brick facing on the inner side. Walls stand on the inner side of the moat, although sections of the south-east moat retain walls on both sides. The south-west section is fragmentary, while the other three sides are well-preserved. The walls are between 2.5 and 5 metres high, featuring a tall, chamfered plinth and large squared quoins. Stone, concrete and terracotta copings are present.

Two bridges cross the moat to the south of the farmhouse, likely dating to the 17th century. They are constructed with ashlar voussoirs, dressed stone and rubble walls, and brick/rubble parapets, the bridge to the north-east having been widened. The segmental archway of the north-east bridge, formerly defended by a gatehouse that has since been demolished, is barely visible due to infilling of the moat. It has a rebuilt rubble parapet with stone coping. A narrower bridge to the south-west leads to a doorway of a barn adjoining the farmhouse’s rear. This bridge has an ashlar segmental arch with a chamfered soffit and stone-coped brick parapets above a chamfered stone band. Sections of walling, similar to that described above, are found on the outer side of the moat between the bridges and linking the narrower bridge to a detached byre.

A late 18th-century garden wall with flat coping runs northwest, dividing the enclosure into two unequal parts. A short section at right angles features a pair of tall, square-plan piers with fragmentary corniced caps.

The moat walls and bridges represent a rare and significant survival. The garden wall and piers are included for group value. Low Butterby was an important medieval manor held by the Lumley and Chaytor families. The former gatehouse, which was a Scheduled Ancient Monument, was demolished in 1966.