Kents Moat

Image: © Richard Law Taken: 29 Jul 2014

Or, more properly, Kempes Moat. This is all that remains of the site of a medieval manor house in the middle of the 1930s Garretts Green housing estate. It represents the location of a settlement occupied between the 12th and 15th centuries, apparently in some style and opulence at times, and last owned by John & Marion Kemp who lived here in the 15th century. Although no water remains in the moat, its size and shape can be made out quite clearly on the ground as a ditch roughly 15-20 feet across, and several feet deep, with trees now growing in it. The flats in the background lie within the moated enclosure, and were built in the 1960s (a time when precious little regard was paid to many historic and ancient sites, and the planning laws were rather less stringent than they are these days.)

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