NHER 11062 (Monument record) - Possible medieval moated site

OS antiquity.
E. Rose (NAU).

Hall is moated but not ancient - see photocopy of OS records in file.
NAR Records. R. J. Rickett (NAU), 5 September 1990.

Rectangular moat to north shown on 1984 1:10,000 OS.
E. Rose (NLA).

April 2000. Site visit.
Nothing remains of this site, modern farm buildings cover area to southwest, remainder now under arable cultivation. Owner of Coldham Hall recalls area as old orchard before infilling several years ago.
H. Paterson (A&E), 12 April 2000.

The earthworks noted above lie to the north of an 18th-century house known as Coldham Hall (now recorded separately as NHER 64510), a precursor of which was presumably potentially associated with the medieval manor of Coldham Hall recorded by Blomefield (S1). Late 19th- and 20th-century maps show a cluster of now demolished buildings at TM 2541 8698 which appear to be labelled 'Coldham Hall' but it is possible that there were outbuildings associated with the present house rather than an earlier dwelling. The earthworks immediately to the north suggest that these buildings may have stood within or adjacent to a medieval moated site. Notes made by the Ordnance Survey in 1973 (recorded in the NAR) refer to a "...dry ditch circa 10.0m wide and 1.0m deep at TM 2543 8706, which would seem to have connected to [a] wet ditch to the w[est]". As noted above, the former is marked on later 20th century Ordnance Survey maps. The latter was a ditch that ran between TM 2535 8707 and TM 2538 8699. It was also noted that the extant house was surrounded by deep drainage ditches that could be the remains of more substantial features. The hall is described as "not outstanding" and it is recorded that there were no traces of an earlier building.
It is clear from recent aerial imagery that the majority of these earthworks are now infilled.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2020.