Reasons for Designation
Around 6,000 moated sites are known in England. They consist of wide ditches,
often or seasonally water-filled, partly or completely enclosing one or more
islands of dry ground on which stood domestic or religious buildings. In some
cases the islands were used for horticulture. The majority of moated sites
served as prestigious aristocratic and seigneurial residences with the
provision of a moat intended as a status symbol rather than a practical
military defence. The peak period during which moated sites were built was
between about 1250 and 1350 and by far the greatest concentration lies in
central and eastern parts of England. However, moated sites were built
throughout the medieval period, are widely scattered throughout England and
exhibit a high level of diversity in their forms and sizes. They form a
significant class of medieval monument and are important for the understanding
of the distribution of wealth and status in the countryside. Many examples
provide conditions favourable to the survival of organic remains.
The moated site at Southchurch Hall survives well, preserved in the midst of a
large residential area by its conversion to a public park in around 1930.
Despite the landscaping which accompanied this conversion, the outline of the
moat remains visible and the buried profile of the ditch is known both to
survive and to contain deep silts which retain artefacts related to the long
period of occupation. Environmental evidence also remaining within these silts
will provide significant information regarding the appearance of the landscape
in which the moated manor was set.
The hall itself is not included in the scheduling, although its remarkable
state of preservation provides a valuable indication of the status and
lifestyle of the former occupants. Other buildings are known to have existed
alongside the hall, and excavations have demonstrated the presence of
well preserved buried foundations on the island. Further archaeological
evidence is also considered to survive in the form of buried features beyond
the island, which will shed light on the development of the manor. The
fishponds to the west of the moat are one such feature. Ponds of this kind
were created to provide a consistent and sustainable food supply, and reached
a peak of popularity in the 12th century. They were largely the province of
the wealthier sectors of medieval society, and are considered important as a
source of information concerning the economy of various classes of medieval
settlements and institutions. The buried remains of the continuation of the
moat to the south of the island are also expected to survive, together with
evidence for the the formal gardens and orchard which extended across this
area in the later medieval period.
The combination of buildings, earthworks and historical information, as
displayed in the Southchurch Hall Museum, provides a valuable public amenity.
Details
Southchurch Hall moated site lies approximately 1.1km to the east of the
central station at Southend-on-Sea, between the railway line and Woodgrange
Drive. The medieval hall and its immediate grounds were granted to the Borough
in 1927 for use as a public library and park, thereby preserving the site from
encroaching housing developments which now encircle the monument.
The moated island occupies the northern half of the park (which covers
approximately 2ha) and measures approximately 60m square. The surface of the
island is raised by about 2m, providing a platform for the manor buildings.
The manor house (a Grade I Listed Building) still stands in the centre of the
island, having been converted from farmhouse to library in 1928-9, and
transformed into a museum in 1974. Although the hall has seen numerous
modifications since its construction in the late-13th century, restoration
work undertaken in the late 1920s returned to the building something of its
earlier appearance. The main east-west range displays its original layout as
an open hall and retains a fine late-13th century tie beam roof, an ogee
arched timber doorway and evidence for the characteristic cross passage of the
period. The solar wing to the west dates from c.1560, utilising in part an
earlier arrangement of chambers and storerooms. The small kitchen to the east
was converted from an earlier buttery and pantry around 1600 when a detached
kitchen range was demolished. The eastern wing, which overlies the area of the
former kitchen range, dates from 1928-9 and probably replaced a 17th century
stair wing. The manor house, including both the medieval and later elements,
is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath is included.
The foundations of other buildings have been revealed by limited excavations
elsewhere on the island, particularly to the north of the hall. The exposed
and consolidated rubble foundations of a stone structure lie adjacent to the
modern bridge which spans the northern arm of the moat and these are believed
to represent a gatehouse, which is one of several features mentioned in an
inventory of the manor dating from 1391. The present bridge was constructed in
the late 1980s, replacing a causeway which had accumulated from the 16th
century onwards, being revetted and pierced by a concrete pipe in the 1930s.
The excavations which accompanied these recent changes uncovered stone
supports to either side of the ditch (that to the south retaining features of
a turning bridge or drawbridge mechanism) and revealed the waterlogged
timberwork of a series of earlier and later bridges.
The moat surrounding the island owes its present appearance to the landscaping
of the park in the 1930s, when the ditches along all but the southern arm were
remodelled to form a series of ponds separated by baulks and causeways. The
resulting pattern follows the original course of the ditch which can be traced
on a series of maps beginning in 1687. The excavations at the bridge
demonstrated a considerable depth of undisturbed silts, and the base and lower
fills of the medieval ditch are thought to remain largely undisturbed by later
work. The southern arm of the moat remains visible as a broad slope, from
which two parallel flights of steps (dating from the 1930s) ascend towards the
hall. Several ornamental ponds, immediately to the west of the moat, are
believed to have originated from two large medieval fishponds.
A map dating from 1687 shows a continuation of the moat to the south of the
island, forming a second enclosure approximately half the width of the main
circuit and similar in length. Later developments, including the construction
of a further shallow pond in the 1930s, have removed evidence of this feature
at ground level, although the buried ditch is expected to survive, along with
buried evidence for the orchard and formal gardens which lay to the south and
east of the island from the 14th century.
The manor was granted to the the Holy Trinity Benedictine priory at Canterbury
before the Norman Conquest. It was held between the mid-12th and mid-14th
centuries by the de Southchurch family, during which time the estate grew
to include properties from Shoebury to Canvey Island and several members of
the family rose to prominence. Sir Richard de Southchurch (c.1225-1293) held
office as Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire and as King's Steward of the
Liberty of Rochford. His son, Sir Peter de Southchurch (c.1255-1309), was
appointed Justice of Oyer and Terminer in 1300. The male line of the de
Southchurch family failed in 1343, and the manor passed to William Dersham who
let the property to a London spice merchant, John of Prittlewell. The property
was also held as surety in financial dealings at this time and, following the
economic collapse precipitated by the Black Death, its revenues were held in
forfeit by the Crown. Canterbury Priory released the debt and recovered the
property in the late-14th century, and the manor was let on short leases until
the Dissolution. In 1545 the Crown granted the manor to Sir Richard Lord Riche
who also leased it out, and it was later (c.1650) sub-divided into two main
tenancies, one of which was based at the hall. By the mid-18th century the
hall was divided into two tenements, but these were reunited into a single
farmhouse, later known as Wiffen's Farm, when the hall was bought up in the
mid-19th century. The outer court, shown to the north of the moat on maps
dating from 1687 onwards, was subsumed by housing developments in the
1920s-30s.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling: these are the manor
house, all other standing structures apart from the stone bridge supports; the
sunken boiler room to the east of the hall; all modern paths, steps and paved
areas; all fences, railings, gates, benches, litter bins and signposts, and
all sluices, pond revetments and concrete pond liners; the ground beneath all
these features is, however, included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
