Archaeological Investigations at The Moat House, Weston Colville, Cambridgeshire: An interim report

The proposed development at The Moat House is for an extension to the present early 19th century house. The Moat House is located within a large sub-square moat (80m in diameter) to the north-east of the present village of Weston Colville. The date of the moat is not known, but it could be assumed to be of 13th to 14th century date. The moat is in a good state of preservation, but is heavily overgrown. The proposed extension would encompass existing one story extensions and a 4.00 by 3.50 metre extension on the south side of the house (Figure 1). All works would extend to two stories and a proportion would incorporate existing foundations. The most archaeologically sensitive aspect of these works is the extension south onto the present lawn. To assess the likely archaeological impact of this extension, a 1.50 by 4.00 metre test trench was machine dug along the line of the proposed southernmost foundation (Figure 2). This was done to provide maximum understanding of any threatened sub-surface features while causing minimum additional damage