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Chepstow Park Wood Moated Site is a post-medieval moated enclosure situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MM103. Moated sites of this period typically served as the defended homesteads of minor gentry or prosperous merchants, with the water-filled ditch providing both practical defence and a visible symbol of status. The monument lies upon Upper Devonian bedrock of sandstone and conglomerate, characteristic geology of the region that would have influenced both the site's drainage and the construction materials available to its medieval inhabitants.
The moat itself would have been created by the excavation of a substantial ditch around a raised platform, with spoil from the ditch forming or heightening the enclosed area within. Such earthwork defences were particularly common in the Welsh borderlands during the 13th to 16th centuries, a period of significant social complexity when fortified residences offered protection and prestige. The sandy and conglomerate soils of the bedrock would have provided adequate drainage for the moat whilst also being workable for the digging and maintenance of such defences.
The survival of the moated earthwork at Chepstow Park Wood demonstrates the permanence of post-medieval settlement patterns in this part of Wales. Though the superstructure that once stood within the moat has long since disappeared, the ditch itself remains a legible landscape feature, recording the investment and ambitions of its medieval builder.
Chepstow Park Wood Moated Site is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MM103. View the official record →
Chepstow Park Wood Moated Site is a post-medieval moated enclosure situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MM103.
Chepstow Park Wood Moated Site dates from the post medieval period, and is classified as a moated site. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Chepstow Park Wood Moated Site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is MM103.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Crick Moated Site (7.6 km), Crick Medieval House (7.7 km), Crick Round Barrow (7.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Chepstow Park Wood Moated Site's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Chepstow Park Wood Moated Site stands on Upper Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.