in doom's-day Ulverlei.
Trifling as this place now seems, it must have been the manor-house of
Solihull, under the Saxon heptarchy; but went to decay so long ago as
the conquest.

The manor was the property of the Earls of Mercia, but whether their
residence is uncertain.--The traces of a moat yet remain, which are
triangular, and encircle a wretched farm-house of no note: one of the
angles of this moat is filled up, and become part of Castle-lane; which
proves that Ulverley went into disuse when Hogg's-moat was erected: it
also proves that the lane terminated here, which is about two hundred
yards from the turnpike road. The great width of the lane, from the road
to Ulverley, and the singular narrowness from thence to Hogg's-moat, is
another proof of its prior antiquity.

If we pursue our journey half a mile Farther along this lane, which by
the way is scarcely passable, it will bring us to

HOGG'S-MOAT.

At Oltenend (Old Town) originally Odingsell's-moat, now Hobb's-moat, the
ancient manor-house of Solihull, after it had changed its lords at the
conquest. The property, as before observed, of Edwin Earl of Mercia, in
the reign of Edward the the Confessor.

William the First granted the manor to a favourite lady, named Cristina,
probably a handsome lass, of the same complexion as his mother; thus we
err when we say William gave all the land in the kingdom to his
followers--some little was given to those _he_ followed.

This lady, like many of her successors, having tired the arms of
royalty, was conveyed into those of an humble favourite; Ralph de
Limesie married her, who became lord of the place, but despising
Ulverley, erected this castle.

The line of Limesie continued proprietors four descents; when, in the
reign of King John, it became the property of Hugh de Odingsells, by
marrying a co-heiress.

The last of the Odingsells, in 1294, left four daughters, one of whom,
with the lordship, fell into the hands of John de Clinton; but it is
probable the castle was not inhabited after the above date, therefore
would quickly fall to decay.

The moat is upon a much larger plan than Ulverley, takes in a compass of
five acres, had two trenches; the outer is nearly obliterated, but the
inner is marked with the strongest lines we meet with. This trench is
about twenty feet deep, and about thirty yards from the crown of one
bank to the other.

When Dugdale saw it, about a hundred and fifty years ago, the center,