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Guilsfield Moated Site is a medieval moated homestead situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MG305. The site occupies land underlain by Caradoc Rocks, Ordovician mudstones, siltstones and sandstones that would have shaped both the drainage patterns and the labour required to excavate the encircling ditch. Moated sites of this type, typically dating from the 12th to 16th centuries, served as defended residences for minor gentry and prosperous farmers, with the water-filled ditch providing both practical defence and a visible marker of status and territorial possession.
The Guilsfield moat represents a characteristic adaptation of the medieval landscape, with the surrounding geology influencing how the earthwork would have functioned as a water feature. The excavated material from the ditch would have formed the internal bank, creating a modest but effective barrier. Such sites were common throughout the Welsh Marches and border regions, where they offered protection appropriate to a landscape of competing claims and periodic unrest.
Though now a ruin in the Powys landscape, the moated site preserves the physical imprint of medieval domestic life and territorial organisation. Its survival as an earthwork provides archaeological evidence for settlement patterns, land use, and the social hierarchy of the Welsh countryside during the medieval period.
Guilsfield Moated Site is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MG305. View the official record →
Guilsfield Moated Site is a medieval moated homestead situated in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference MG305.
Guilsfield Moated 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.
Guilsfield 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 MG305.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cursus, Llwyn-Wron (revealed by aerial photography) (6.6 km), Llwynderw Round Barrow (7.8 km), Offa's Dyke: Section from North Lodge, Leighton Park to Old Quarry S of Green Wood (8.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Guilsfield 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.
Guilsfield Moated Site stands on Caradoc Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.