NHER 34571 (Monument record) - Medieval moated site

Site of Old Hall shown on 1723 map of Estate of de Grey (Lord Walsingham) as trapezoidal moated enclosure. (S1).
Enclosure Award of 1802 (S2) shows eastern and southern parts alone as field boundarys.
Possibly the precursor of Bury Hall, as both owned by de Grey in 1723?
Height OD. 49m.
B.Cushion (NLA), 14 June 1999.

Moat with wide ditches is faintly visible on 1970 Ordnance Survey aerial photograph (S3) and more faintly on 1946 RAF Aerial photograph (S4). Informant [1] states still visible on ground.
E. Rose (NLA), 3 January 2001.

September 2005.
The pond was lightly scraped to form a catchment for spring water, with material spread around the site. No masonry was encountered during operations.
H. Paterson (A&E), 27 September 2005.

The central grid reference for this site has been altered from TM 0204 9775 to TM 0206 9776.


July 2012. Norfolk NMP.
The site of a medieval moat and associated boundaries is visible on aerial photographs (S5-S9). The site is centred on TM 0206 9776. The above description states that the moat is trapezoidal in shape (S1), however the aerial photographs would indicate that the main moat is broadly square in shape and measures 48m externally and 37.5m internally. The site shows particularly clearly in 1976 (S8). Unfortunately no stereo coverage was available to cover the site sufficient and it is therefore possible that some of the less distinct features mapped may in fact by agricultural in origin, most notably the large sub-rectangular pond tentatively identified to the immediate east of the moat. It must be stated that this feature is not visible on any of the other available aerial photographs and therefore it must be treated with caution. However the moat itself is only clearly visible on a couple of the aerial photographs of this site, most notably (S7-S9). A possible continuation of the eastern arm of the moat into the field to the south may be visible as a blurred soilmark in 1995 (S9), however it is possible that this mark actually relates to underlying drainage.
An oblong sunken or pit-like feature is visible within the interior of the moat on some of the photographs, 1970 and 1976 (S7-S8) and may represent the remains of a sunken-floored building, possibly the former Hall, although a fish pond remains another possible interpretation. The interior of the moat looks slightly raised in 1970 (S7), although this was not certain and was therefore not mapped as an earthwork.
The soilmarks of numerous field boundaries, comprising ditches and banks and/or former hedge lines were visible in 1976 (S8) to the north of the moat. However these were not mapped as they were felt to be largely consistent or of a similar pattern to those depicted on the available historic maps, such as the 1840 Great Ellingham Tithe map (S10). Other possible earthworks, cropmarks and soilmarks were tentatively identified in this area, some of which may be of contemporary date, were recorded under NHER 57408. However many of these features may be of agricultural origin, see record for details.
S. Horlock (NMP), 24 July 2012.