© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw
Goldcliff Moated House Site is a medieval moated site situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MM092. The monument comprises the earthwork remains of a residential enclosure surrounded by water-filled or water-retaining ditches, a defensive and status-bearing feature characteristic of high-status medieval dwellings. The site's strategic positioning reflects the settlement patterns of the period, when such moated houses served as fortified homes for the landed gentry and nobility.
The underlying geology of the site consists of Triassic rocks—undifferentiated mudstone, siltstone and sandstone—which would have influenced both the construction methods available to medieval builders and the drainage properties of the moated ditches themselves. These softer rocks are susceptible to erosion and water permeability, factors that shaped how the medieval inhabitants engineered their water-filled defences and maintained the enclosure.
Moated house sites of this type typically date to the medieval period, with many established between the 12th and 16th centuries. They represent an important category of domestic archaeology, revealing patterns of land ownership, settlement hierarchy and building practices during the Middle Ages. The preservation of Goldcliff's earthwork remains makes it a valuable record of medieval Welsh settlement and domestic fortification.
Goldcliff Moated House Site is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MM092. View the official record →
Goldcliff Moated House Site is a medieval moated site situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MM092.
Goldcliff Moated House Site dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a moated site. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Goldcliff Moated House 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 MM092.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including St. Mary Magdalene's Churchyard Cross, Goldcliff (0.6 km), Goldcliff Pill Anti-invasion Defences (1.1 km), Moated Site E of Grangefield Farm (3.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Goldcliff Moated House 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.
Goldcliff Moated House Site stands on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.