Moated site at Flimworth Hall

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 Flimworth Hall survives well and will contain archaeological information concerning its construction and occupation as a manor in the medieval and early post-medieval periods, including evidence for earlier buildings on the site. Organic materials, including evidence for the local environment in the past, are also likely to be preserved in waterlogged deposits in the moat. The historical documentation relating to the manor in the mid-17th century adds to the interest of the monument. The moated site is one of three which bordered and had access to Cranley Green, the outline of which can still be traced in surviving boundaries. As a group, these represent a good example of a type of greenside settlement characteristic of this area of Suffolk, and are thus of particular interest for the study of medieval settlement in the region. The other two moated sites are the subject of separate schedulings.

Details

The monument includes a moated site located some 300m to the north of the site of Cranley Green, and is identified as the site of the manor of Flymworth (or Flemworth) Hall, which is recorded from the 15th century. The moat, which contains some water, surrounds a quadrangular island with internal dimensions of about 62m east-west by 45m north-south. Access to the island is provided by a causeway across the northern arm of the moat which is probably original, and additional causeways which are of more recent date cross the other three arms.

The moat is around 7m in width except on the north side where it expands from about 10m wide at the north east corner to about 18m east of the causeway. To the west of the causeway it has been enlarged externally to form a pond about 25m wide. The eastern arm, south of the causeway on that side, has an extension inward and south, partially enclosing a triangular area approximately 25m in length north-south by 12m wide at the southern end. An estate map of 1840 shows the extension continuing southward to meet the southern arm of the moat and the area within it as an island. An irregular pond which extends from the south east corner of the moat is considered to be a later feature and is not included.

Flimworth Hall, which occupies the centre of the moated island, dates to the early 17th century. An inventory of about 1650 refers to it as `that capital messuage, commonly called Flymworth Hill, in Eye, consisting of a hall, a parlour, a buttery, a kitchen, and three chambers over them, with one garrett over the said chambers, one large yard and a bakehouse, a dairy, and one large barn consisting of ten bayes of buildings, one stable, one mill house, with several other outhouses which said Manor House and scite thereof is bounded by a moat of water east, west and south.' The inventory notes that the house was in good repair, having recently been built by the then tenant, Thomas Lucas (1584-1664).

Although the northern arm of the moat is not mentioned in this survey, and the part of it to the east of the causeway is not shown on the 19th century estate map, it is probable that it existed originally, had been infilled or allowed to silt up, and has since been reopened.

Flemworth Hall, all outbuildings on the moated site, together with a sewage treatment plant, inspection chambers, an old water tower, service poles and the modern driveway surface are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

30599

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
East Anglian Miscellany in Flymworth Hall in Eye, Vol. 2737, (1909), 29

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