The Society owns and maintains a medieval moated site at Grayswood, near Haslemere in Surrey. It is open to the public and is the best-preserved example of its type in the county. Full details are available either from the Society's office or from Haslemere Museum, High Street, Haslemere GU27 2LA (tel: 01428 642112). A leaflet and a teaching pack are available and school visits are welcomed.

The illustration shows the site as it may have appeared c AD1350 (no buildings are visible today).

History

The identity of this medieval homestead is obscure. It was probably the manor house of the small royal manor of Ashurst but this may have later declined to become the keeper's lodge of Ashurst Park. Moated manors and lodges are not uncommon and most were constructed between the 12th and 14th centuries to emphasize, it is thought, the social standing of the house and its occupants, possibly imitating the great castle moats of the time.

Ashurst manor is first mentioned in the early 14th century as a subsidiary holding of the royal manor of Witley, being granted, usually for life, to members of the king's household.

Parks were often the focus of local discontent and Ashurst was no exception. In 1378 when held by Philip Walwayn, Usher of the King's Chamber, there are references to the wasting of Ashurst park when the king's deer were unlawfully hunted and killed, to the intimidation of the park keeper in his lodge and to the repair of the manor house.

In 1464, both Ashurst and Witley manors were held by the Duke of Clarence (who drowned in a butt of malmsey) and it was probably around this time that they were amalgamated, Ashurst fading from history. Ashurst, which is thought to have lain near the southern end of Witley park, may therefore have occupied the area around the moat.

In 1599, Queen Elizabeth I sold Witley park to the Mores of Loseley after which ‑ by then broken up into farms ‑ it passed to the Salisburys of Hatfield, to the local Chandler family, to Lord Derby who used South Park Farm to house his weekend shooting guests, and finally, in the early years of the 20th century, to Viscount Pirrie who enclosed with an iron fence an area corresponding more or less with the medieval deer park.

Finds indicate that the moat was occupied in the early 14th century. Other artefacts such as Saxo‑Norman pottery suggest that there was probably pre-moat settlement nearby. Flint implements dating from the Mesolithic period to the Bronze Age indicate human activity around the moat from early times.

There are now no remains above-ground of a building at the moat but remote‑sensing surveys indicated structures in the western half of the island and the timber-framed house as it may have appeared in the reconstruction drawing (above). The central ‘hall' would have been open to the rafters, with smoke holes in the roof. The solar above the chamber was used as a bedroom or storeroom, and the pantry and buttery for the storage of food and liquids (in butts).

In the illustration (above), the kitchen is shown as a separate building (to the right of the house), a common feature of timber houses where fire was an ever‑present hazard. Ancillary farm buildings such as barns, granaries and animal houses would have occupied the area outside the island.

Although the moat is enclosed by the late medieval boundary or pale of Witley deer park (after its absorption of Ashurst) and may have been used as a keeper's lodge at some time, its position in a hollow favours its original construction as Ashurst manor house. Keepers' lodges were usually situated on high ground with an overall view of the park.

Access

The site at South Park is open throughout the year and is unattended. Access may be either:

• via a turning west off the A286 a few hundred yards north of Grayswood Church, along a metalled road to South Park Farm and then turning right along the signposted grass access track, at the end of which there is a car park. This mode of access is only suitable for cars and transit vans.
• or from Grayswood Church via a public bridleway to South Park Farm (about 3/4 mile) and then as above. This mode of access must be used for parties arriving by coach as the entry off the A286 referred to above is on a dangerous bend and not suitable for disembarking children. Coaches may park, during the visit, in the Coach Park at Haslemere Railway Station.

Advice to visitors

The moated homestead lying within the fenced-off area is a scheduled ancient monument. Please do not damage or disturb it, use a metal detector or pick the wild flowers. Both South Park and the moat are privately owned but the grass track bisecting the site is a public right of way. All visitors to the site enter at their own risk. It is recommended that children should wear stout footwear and be suitably clad against adverse weather conditions. There is a foul weather shelter on site.

Attention is drawn to the existence on some parts of the site of the remains of Victorian and later rubbish dumping. Every attempt has been made to remove this refuse but occasionally small pieces of glass and decaying metal are washed to the surface and constitute a slight hazard.