Medieval moat at Marks Tey Hall

Summary

The site comprises the surviving north, east and south arms of a rectangular moat enclosing Marks Tey Hall. There is a small footbridge or dam across the northern arm.

Reasons for Designation

The medieval moated enclosure at Marks Tey Hall is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

Survival:
* The major elements of the moated site survive well, with a defined and relatively undisturbed platform, three water-filled and one buried arm of the moat, and it is a good example of its type;

Potential:
* There is strong potential for significant archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence, particularly within the water-filled ditches. There is considerable potential for such evidence to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the moated site and its development from the C14 onward;

Documentation:
* For its surviving documentary history covering the Tey family, the history of ownership and history of development of the site;

Group value:
* The medieval moated site has group value with the Grade II listed Marks Tey Hall (NHLE 1224576), the Grade II* listed Barn South of Marks Tey Hall (NHLE 1224577) and the C17 Barn to North West of Marks Tey Hall (NHLE 1266768).

History

Around 6,000 moated sites are known in England. They consist of wide ditches, often water-filled or seasonally water-filled, partly or completely enclosing one or more islands of dry ground on which stood domestic or religious buildings. 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. 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 most distinctive feature of a moat is its ditch, and in many cases this is the only extant portion of the site. The ditches are relatively wide, normally between 3m and 6m, and excavated examples show that they were usually D-shaped in cross section and about 2m deep.

Marks Tey was recorded in the Domesday book as a large settlement (named Teia). The manor was held by Wulfric (or Ulvric) in 1066 and given to Geoffrey de Mandeville by 1086. The tenancy passed to the Merk family in the C13, then to the Tey family on the death of Henry de Merk in 1268. In 1308, Robert de Tey was granted permission to build a private chapel, demonstrating that there was a manor house on the site by then. The property was conveyed to Elizabeth I in 1592, who conveyed it to Charles Cornwallis in 1596. The manor passed through a number of hands until it was leased out as a farm in the C19.

The current Marks Tey Hall was constructed in the C16 and extended in 1727. The date of the moat is not known, but presumably dates to the earlier, medieval manor house. The first accurate map of the moat was the Tithe Map of 1840, which shows the moat complete on three sides. By 1876, the moat had been infilled in the south east corner, and the infilled gap was widened between 1876 and 1897.

The date of the bridge or dam across the northern arm of the moat is not known. It is shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (1876). Several garden features are also shown on the moat platform and the south west corner of the moat is occupied by a number of buildings (demolished in the mid C20).

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
The site comprises the surviving north, east and south arms of a rectangular moat enclosing Marks Tey Hall. There is a small footbridge or dam across the northern arm.

DESCRIPTION
The north arm of the moat starts in a wider pond (incorporating the northern end of the western arm). The pond measures 25m (north to south) by 17m, and leads into the north arm, which measures 71m in length and between 4m and 5m in width. A small brick footbridge or dam crosses the moat slightly to the west of its mid point. The bridge is of brick, and acts as a dam between the west and east halves of the north arm. The east arm of the moat measures 50m in length, and is 3.5m wide, terminating in a section backfilled in the C19.
The south arm of the moat forms a standalone pond which drains into a stream to the east. The surviving section measures 43m by 7m.
While most of the west arm of the moat does not survive, a slight depression at the western end of the moat platform suggests that the moat was once a complete circuit.
The current Marks Tey Hall was constructed in C16 but the continuous use of the site since at least 1308 is indicated from documentary sources. With the exception of the Grade II* barn to the north-west of Marks Tey Hall (LE 1224577) the precise location of earlier buildings is not known although it is highly likely that the manor house and chapel were located on the moated platform. Given the site has remained relatively unencumbered by later development or significant disturbance the archaeological potential of the platform is high and remains are very likely to survive beneath the current ground surface or beneath the hall itself.

EXCLUSIONS
The monument excludes the upstanding Grade II listed Marks Tey Hall and its adjacent outbuilding, although the land beneath them is included in the Schedule.

Sources

Websites
'Aldham: Manors and other estates', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10, Lexden Hundred (Part) Including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe, ed. Janet Cooper (London, 2001), pp. 13-15. British History Online, accessed 28 September 2021 from http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol10/pp13-15
'Marks Tey ', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 3, North East (London, 1922), pp. 179-180. British History Online, accessed 28 September 2021 from http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/essex/vol3/pp179-180
Marks Tey entry in the Domesday Book, accessed 28 September 2021 from https://opendomesday.org/place/TL9123/marks-tey/
Colchester Heritage Explorer monument record MCC7534 - Marks Tey Hall, accessed 28 September 2021 from https://colchesterheritage.co.uk/Monument/MCC7534

Other
'Marks Tey Hall Colchester Heritage Impact Assessment February 2013' Murphy, T Unpublished Purcell Report (2013)
'Marks Tey Hall An assessment of Heritage Assets, and a consideration of the archaeological implications of proposed development around the Hall' Brooks, H Unpublished Colchester Archaeological Trust Report 703 (2013)

End of official list entry

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