Sunday 28 April 2013

The wrong end of the stick

I had always thought that a moat around a castle or large manor house was there as a form of defence. Close the gates, pull up the draw bridge and you could pick off your enemies as they tried to cross the water and scale the walls. So I was curious as to why Ightham Mote was moated as it is not situated in a particularly defensive position being lower than surrounding countryside.

When I put this observation to a local guide I was told that from about the 14th cent onwards they used the mote for hygiene purposes as it had flowing water fed from a local stream. There were pipes in the walls to allow human sewage to be pushed through into the water below. This was done with a wooden stick which they believe is the origin of the phrase ' to get hold of the wrong end of the stick'!

7 comments:

  1. There is a moated manor along the rad from where I live though I'm not the flavor of the month with them for taking photos of the place and putting them on a website.

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  2. Funny story, they were very hygienic for that time. Although the water must have smelled bad.

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  3. I didn't know that, and although I never wondered where that phrase originated, it's good to know why NOT to grab ahold of the "wrong end of the stick." :-)

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  4. That is a a good explanation of getting hold of the wrong end of the stick. I am sure you are correct in your spelling of mote, but why not moat?

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  5. I thought the same as you .... moats were for defence. We learn so much from other bloggers.

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  6. That is interesting. It still doesn't sound very hygienic to me.

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  7. Well, having poo floating in a moat would be some sort of defence perhaps?

    Lovely shot.

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