Marsh Court, Wincanton
Has been described as a Possible Fortified Manor House
There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains
| Name | Marsh Court, Wincanton |
| Alternative Names | Marsch; la Mersch by Wyncaulton |
| Historic Country | Somerset |
| Modern Authority | Somerset |
| 1974 Authority | Somerset |
| Civil Parish | Wincanton |
Site of court house, extant 1485; house AD 1661. Dunning writes house had chapel in C13, dovecot in C14 and suggests this was a substantial house. The complex seems to comprise a double moated enclosure. Marsh Court has one possible moat while the farm buildings to the E also are moated. It is the latter which survives today. The OS 25" map shows both moats in fragmentary states. The one around the main farm house is shown on the W side as a narrow ditch, still water filled which extends to the N and S making three sides. Today this is almost non-existant except for a slight bank around the S and W sides, the latter being disturbed by an access road. The other enclosure is also shown on the map and this survives as a substantial earthwork although infilled in some places. It is water filled on the S and E sides, the W side (making up the common side between both moats) is infilled with farm rubbish. The buildings in this enclosure are recent farm buildings with probably little damage caused to any deposits that may be underneath. A possible original causeway is still in use although there is no sign of any bridge structure. The course of the moat to the W can be seen as earthwork although now there is a wall blocking it off. The faint earthworks of a possible fishpond lie to the E of the site. (Derived from Dunning, PastScape and Somerset HER)
Richard Lovel had a house at Marsh in 1344 and a garden and dovecot were mentioned in 1351. The former 'goodly manor place' was a ruin in 1540 but there seems to have been a house there in 1569. Until the 1960s traces of a double moat were visible, the original house probably in a square enclosure which was set within a much larger site, the eastern end of which may have included a fishpond. The western part of the moat was destroyed between 1966 and 1976. (VCH 1999)
Not scheduled
This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law
Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | ST740256 |
| Latitude | 51.029541015625 |
| Longitude | -2.3719699382782 |
| Eastings | 374010 |
| Northings | 125640 |
