Defended homesteads constructed in great numbers throughout England, Ireland and Flanders during the late medieval period. There was already a tradition of building defensive moats around castles and manorial establishments, and during the troubled years at the turn of the 13th century some wealthier farmers adopted this style of fortification. Other reasons advanced for this development are that in marshy areas a moat provided an extra means of drainage when the climate was deteriorating, and that statusseeking landowners wished to imitate the military and aristocratic classes.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied