Page:VCH Bedfordshire 1.djvu/364

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE ton, Cotton End, Bassmead, Cardington and in many other places. Sometimes the moat forms a simple oblong ; sometimes another moat divided the space into two. Many of these examples have exterior banks, which from their breadth and flatness apparently formed promen- ades. Sometimes another ditch is found outside these again, as at Riseley Old Domain and at Mavourn. In the latter the moat has a flat berm under the water line, and then suddenly drops to a depth of 9 feet, an ingenious device for embarrassing intruders. Most of these later works suggest enclosure rather than defence. A large number of works are found with the -bury in their names, and many of these stand on heights. Brogborough near Lidlington, a small stronghold originally of oval shape, is perched on a little hill-top, and has the remnant of a really mighty rampart turning round its south end, and also remains of a fine fosse. Here too are the remnants of an exterior rampart. Keysoe Park, or Berrystead, as it used to be called, is another example. This resembles Mr. Gould's 'stirrup-shaped' works 1 in plan. The ditch was a formidable one, 40 to 50 feet across, with a low ram- part inside, of which considerable lengths remain, and a very large one MOSSBURY OR MOWSBURY outside, continuing round every side of the enclosure. It is best pre- served in a small spinney, where it is some 15 feet in height by 50 broad. There is a narrow berm on both sides of the ditch, and the V.C.H. Essex, i. 303. 306