Page 13 - Moons Moat

Moons Moat Redditch Heritage

Although the house at Moons Moat provided a home, the occupants probably
toiled in the adjacent fields growing crops and tending livestock to earn a living.

plenty of spare land to choose from. It looks, however, as if the Moons Moat farmer
decided not to occupy already farmed land but to break in virgin land.

In the Midlands in the 14th century there were two types of land. One, consisting of good
farm land which had been cleared centuries before, was arable land. It was farmed
intensively and produced good crops of wheat, barley, oats and occasionally other produce.
In our area there were two places noted for arable farming. One was the Vale of Evesham,
still largely farmed in this intensive way. The other was the region to the east of Stratford
upon Avon and between Shipston on Stour and Banbury. It was called the Feldon. It
would have been impossible for the builder of Moons Moat to have gate crashed this valuable
land to build himself a moated farm house.

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