A Moated Rectory at Wimbotsham, Norfolk

Wimbotsham is one of more than 400 moated sites in Norfolk and was investigated ahead of a sewer being laid by the local water company. This report on the excavation and associated archival research reveals Wimbotsham as a moated rectory, most probably built by the de Warenne family at the end of the 12th century. The excavation found two earth building platforms, a series of internal drainage channels, remains of a 13th- or 14th-century timber-framed building and an assemblage of finds that included domestic and some high-status objects. The site went into decline in the 15th and 16th centuries and was abandoned by 1626.