A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



north-west corner. The entrance is on the east towards the south- 

 eastern angle. 



SOUTH MIMMS (i, 10). At BLANCHE FARM, to the south of St. 

 Monica's Priory, are the remains of that which was undoubtedly a moat, 

 although the north-west and south-east are the only two extant sides. 



TOTTENHAM (xii, 3). BRUCE CASTLE and BRUCE PARK formed one- 

 third of the ancient manor of Tottenham. The spread of London's 

 population is responsible for the recent levelling of the moat. 



TOTTENHAM (xii, 3). ' MOCKINGS ' was a sub-manor formed from 

 that of Bruce, lying north of the high road. The moated manor-house 

 stood on the south side of Marsh Lane. 



WILLESDEN (xvi, 6). A moat similar to that in the moated 

 meadow at Acton was situated near Willesden Junction until finally 

 obliterated about the year 1890. 



[CLASS G] 



ACTON (xvi, 9). A quarter of a mile north of Acton Station on the 

 Great Western Railway, in a field called ' Moated Meadow,' two fields 

 westward of ' Friars' Place Farm,' are the remains of an earthwork 

 which the Ordnance Surveyors have marked as a moat. From the slight 

 indications extant it might possibly have formed a camp; but not enough 

 remains to decide its original use. 



The work occupies a slight eminence and consists of a shallow 

 fosse, or dry moat, surrounding a quadrangular area. The two short 

 sides the western and eastern are nearly parallel, the west is 89 ft. 

 long, the east 136 ft. Of the two long sides the southern, 235ft., is at 

 right angles to the east and west ; but the northern, 240 ft., takes a 

 course to the north-east-by-east. The fosse varies from 41 ft. broad at 

 the south-east, to 60 ft. at the north-west. On the north side, where the 

 higher ground on the exterior makes it more assailable, is found the 

 deepest part, which is 6 ft. A bank has surmounted the outer edge of the 

 fosse, this is still discernible on all sides but the south, and averages 1 5 ft. 

 wide. The latter feature may have led Lysons to speak of it as ' a deep 

 trench enclosing a parallelogram (sic) . . . supposed to have been a 

 Roman camp.' 



LONDON : THE TOWER MOAT. The precincts of the Tower of 

 London are partly within London, but the greater eastern portion is in 

 Middlesex. The first castle on this spot was built by the conquering 

 Norman. 



No account of earthen ramparts has been bequeathed to us, and 

 the earliest mention of a fosse is of the twelfth century. 



In 1 190 William Longchamp, bishop of Ely and justiciary of 

 England, while acting as regent during the absence of Richard in 

 Palestine, caused a deep trench to be dug round the Tower of London, 

 hoping to bring the waters of the Thames into the City, but after 



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