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Hobs Moat history
The history of Hobs Moat in Solihull
Hobs Moat is an ancient, moated site located to the west of Hobs Moat Road and north of Castle Lane. It is a scheduled Ancient Monument and was the subject of a great deal of excavation in the 1980s. Today it is a rectangular wooded area, clearly visible on the above photograph.
Pemberton suggests in Solihull and its Church that Hobs Moat is “a corruption of Odingsells’ Moat.”. Hobs Moat is said to have been the site of the home of the de Limisi and the de Odingsells families who were lords of the manor of Ulverlei and founders of what we now know as Solihull. Pemberton states "The moat, surmounted as it would have been by a stockade, would have been a formidable obstacle to assault" (1905:35)
Further reading
Olton heritage by Jean Powrie, Margaret Jordan and Carol Andrews, 1986 (includes section on the excavations at Hobs Moat, 1985)
Solihull and its church by Robert Pemberton, 1905
Check the online catalogue to see if the above books on Hobs Moat are available at your local Solihull library.
Ordnance Survey maps 1886 to the present day are available at Solihull Heritage & Local Studies Service.
Let us know your memories of Hobs Moat, however recent, by completing a memory sheet attached below.