The Puzzle of Hobs Moat, Solihull, England: What Lies Beneath the Ruins?

Tucked away in the heart of Solihull's Olton, Hobs Moat stands as a great mystery - 'All hail to the farm that came before it!' Today, we are left with mere relics from Ulverli's moat and shattered stones, but it appears the castle traces back to the 14th century. In 1656, old Sir William Dugdale paid a visit and could only find a daunting moat and castle fragments. Archaeological studies hint at a subsequent structure, a grand hunting lodge, enveloped beneath Hobs Moat. This grandeur was constructed on an enormous, rectangular earthwork platform, encircled by a rampart, deep ditch, and counterscarp bank. The remaining bits of a medieval hollow way lead us westward towards Castle Lane, a tantalizing trace of a link between the two. One peculiar factor, the moat strategically placed at the castle's northern edge, was fed by springs. Why place such an obstacle so far north?

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons