NEWTON
AND HACEBY: HACEBY MOAT
TF
032360
The
moated enclosure at Haceby (Fig 62) is situated beyond deserted tofts on the
edge of Haceby Little Wood some 125 metres to the east of the present village,
and presumably marks the site of a manor house, but it has not proved possible
to identify it with any degree of certainty. In both 1066 and 1086 there were
three manors in the settlement and one parcel of sokeland that belonged to
Folkingham, but this tenurial complexity was probably belied by a greater
simplicity at the level of actual tenure and exploitation. Alfric, the
predecessor of Guy de Craon, may have had some superiority in the vill before
the Conquest since he enjoyed extensive rights of jurisdiction, and at the time
of the survey the same Godwin seems to have been the tenant of the manors of
Waldin the Breton and Guy de Craon (1). This personal link between fees may
have persisted for several hundred years, despite a tangled feudal
superstructure. By the mid thirteenth century three honours were represented in
the vill, and there was a bewildering number of mesne tenancies. But in 1242
half the fee of William Longespee, the successor to Waldin, was held by a
Robert de Thorpe who was at the same time the tenant of the honour of Craon's
estate (2). This pattern of tenure was further simplified, when in the late
thirteenth century Robert's lands were acquired by William de Durevye, the lord
of the Gant fee and the other half of William de Longespee's (3). It was not
until c.1350 that the link was
broken, but by then the land was probably held by non-resident lords.
It is likely, then, that, despite the
number of interests in the vill, there were never more than two knightly
families living in Haceby at any one time. Unfortunately, no evidence has come
to light to indicate to which fee the moated enclosure belonged, and any
conclusion can be only speculative. However, it might be hazarded that the
relative remoteness of the site from the church militates against an
association with the Craon fee, to which the advowson belonged (4), and
suggests that it may have belonged to the Durvye family.
The moat is of a simple rectangular
shape, 30 by 50 metres, comparable with those at Dowsby and Swaton, but
slightly larger than that at Spanby (Fig 63). It has ditches 10 to 15 metres
wide and partial remains of banks outside the ditches varying between two and
five metres wide at the top. These are shown on the plan on the north and east
sides, but there is also a complete bank on the south side, visible in an
arable field, which was not included in the survey.
1. Lincs
DB, 24/88; 26/45; 46/1; 48/8; 57/18.
2. BF,
1029; RH i, 255b.
3. FA
iii, 129, 135, 195, 197; CI iii, 163;
CI vii, 234; CI viii, 194.
4. Lincs
D8, 57/18.