Record Details

NHER Number:7251
Type of record:Monument
Name:Medieval moated manorial site of Longham Manor

Summary

The medieval moated manorial site of Longham Manor is known from documentary and cartographic sources. Earthworks at the site, which include the moat, have been the subject of ground survey, and are also visible on aerial photographs and visualised lidar data. A late 16th century map shows a manor house in the centre of the moat, with buildings and a pond inside the outer enclosure to its east. The site was abandoned in 1816 when the occupants moved to Longham Hall (NHER 44625). Medieval pottery has been collected on the site.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TF 9302 1570
Map Sheet:TF91NW
Parish:LONGHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

Moated site of former Longham Hall.

1969.
Surveyed by P. Wade-Martins.
Three medieval sherds found.
See plan in (S1). Moat now has lost its northwest corner. Outer enclosure to east. Late 16th century map shows the manor house in the centre with buildings including a dovecot, and a pond, in the outer enclosure.
Hall was demolished by the Coke family when the new one (NHER 44625) was constructed to north.
E. Rose (NAU).

Condition poor, interior thickly covered with nettles and overgrown with scrub and trees around moat sides.
H. Paterson (NAU), October 1992.

October 2002.
Site scheduled.
J. Allen (NLA), 2 January 2003.

The site was abandoned in 1816.
See (S1).
D. Robertson (NLA), 17 May 2006.

September 2023. Wendling Beck and Fransham Aerial Investigation and Mapping (AIM) Project.
The medieval moated manorial site described above is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (S2) and visualised lidar data (S3). On the 1940s aerial photographs (S2) the northwest corner of the moat is still visible as an open feature, but the visualised lidar data (S3) shows it as largely levelled. The moat island was still occupied by a house and garden in the 1940s, and the only internal features to be recorded are shallow boundary ditches to the east of the house, which could be of relatively late date (they are not visible on the visualised lidar data and have presumably been levelled). The Monument Polygon defining the site has been extended to include the building and ponds which lay to its east (as described above). Again, fragmentary boundary (or drainage) ditches are visible in this area on the 1940s aerial photographs (S2), but again they may be of relatively late date. On the basis of the visualised lidar data (S3) these too appear to have been levelled, although modern disturbance means that it is difficult to be certain. As the lidar survey was flown relatively recently (2017), it is presumed that the earthworks of the moat still survive in much the same condition.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 25 September 2023.

Monument Types

  • BOUNDARY DITCH (Medieval to 21st Century - 1066 AD? to 2050 AD?)
  • DOVECOTE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • DRAINAGE DITCH (Medieval to 21st Century - 1066 AD? to 2050 AD?)
  • HOUSE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1816 AD)
  • MANOR (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POND (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • SETTLEMENT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

  • POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status

  • Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

---LIDAR Airborne Survey: Environment Agency. Environment Agency LIDAR Data. National LIDAR Programme TF91NW DTM 1m 17 to 24-NOV-2017.
---Aerial Photograph: TF9315 E-G,K,L.
---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. Tf 91 NW 12 [2].
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Medieval. Longham [2].
---Slide: Various. Slide.
---Designation: English Heritage. 1990-2013. English Heritage Scheduling Notification. Notification. DNF426.
---Designation: English Heritage. 1994? -2011?. English Heritage Digital Designation Record. Record. DNF426.
<S1>Monograph: Wade-Martins, P. 1980. Fieldwork and Excavation on Village Sites in Launditch Hundred, Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 10. pp 33-39.
<S2>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Various. Various. Vertical Aerial Photography from the Historic England Archive. RAF/3G/TUD/UK/51 V 5213-5214 31-JAN-1946.

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