First recorded on the 1837 Ordnance Survey map as a rectangular tree plantation, this site represents one of many Anglo-Norman fortified homesteads that once dotted the Irish countryside. By the time cartographers revisited in 1913, the trees had gone, leaving only a field measuring roughly 62 metres north to south and 67 metres east to west.

The site’s original defensive moat, which would have surrounded a timber or stone dwelling, has long since been filled in. When archaeologists surveyed the location in 1981, they found no surface features remaining; however, the ghost of the medieval structure persists in more subtle ways. The western and northern boundaries of the original enclosure survive as modern field divisions, whilst the eastern and southern edges, though physically removed, still appear as linear cropmarks visible in aerial photography.

These cropmarks, captured by Digital Globe’s satellites, reveal where the medieval moat once ran, its filled-in channel creating slightly different growing conditions that show up from above. Such sites were typically built by Anglo-Norman settlers from the late 12th century onwards, serving as fortified farmsteads that combined residential, agricultural, and defensive functions. Though Crossanstown’s moated site may appear unremarkable at ground level, it forms part of a broader archaeological landscape that tells the story of medieval settlement patterns, land management, and the complex cultural interactions between Gaelic Irish and Anglo-Norman communities.