NHER 7251 (Monument record) - Medieval moated manorial site of Longham Manor

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.