Monument record MLI33423 - Medieval Moated Manor, Langtoft Hall

Summary

Site of medieval moated manor, Langtoft Hall.

Type and Period (3)

  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Full Description

The whole village and parish of Langtoft belonged to Crowland abbey from before the Norman Conquest. At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086 the manor was recorded as comprising meadow, marshland, woodland and arable. Throughout the High Middle Ages the manor was a major source of income and produce for the community. Up to the mid fourteenth century the land was managed directly by the abbey and was farmed primarily for the market. But from about 1368 the demesne was leased to the villeins as the price of agricultural produce fell in the aftermath of the Black Death. Nevertheless, the manorial complex was not abandoned, and at the Dissolution the inventory of the manorial property was described as being '...with houses and buildings within the (moated) site, (and) land, ways, waters, woods, commons, fisheries pertaining...a rectory... With tithes, barns and granaries pertaining'. The manor house subsequently passed to the Hyde family and remained the house of the principal landowner in the vill into the eighteenth century (see PRN33412). The remains of a moat lie just to the north-east of the present farm, overlying the Car Dyke and probably represent the boundary ditch of the medieval curia. The surviving length of moat is only a fragment and in 1988 was under plough. Possible building foundations were seen close to the angle of the moat. It may be that the Car Dyke was initially deliberately incorporated into the moat at Langtoft Hall, but that later alterations resulted in a slight re-alignment, as the hollow now seems to be in a position over the channel. The northern extension of the moat was seen during surveys in 1991. {1}{2} Two sherds of medieval shelly ware, one with a vertical piecrust strip, were found here in 1976 and seen at Lincoln Museum. {3} The south-west line of the moat was seen during geophysical survey in 1994. Excavation of two areas (TF12701297 and TF12741302) near the surviving moat in 1995 revealed an area that had been in use in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and possibly earlier. This probably represented agricultural and drainage activity with several linear and pit-like features. There was also a filled-in well or other form of drinking water supply. The results of the environmental analysis of the area suggests that wheat was favoured over cereal crops. Cattle bones formed the majority of bone recovered although bird, horse, pig and sheep were also present. The second area revealed the remains of the domestic buildings of the medieval moated complex. Pottery suggested a thirteenth century to sixteenth century use of the buildings and their demolition in the sixteenth century when the Hyde family acquired the land and constructed Langtoft Hall. Two large areas of window tracery were recovered and ovens or fireplaces were identified. There was also a cellar to one of the buildings that partly survived. {4}{5} Further work on this site in early 1996 during a watching brief identified the remains of the medieval moat, a stone-lined well and other features. {6} The surviving moat was ploughed in November 2015 having been under grass for some years. {7}

Sources/Archives (7)

  •  Report: Lindsey Archaeological Services. 1991. Langtoft Hall Farm: Archaeological Evaluation. -.
  •  Unpublished Document: R.H. Healey and D.R. Roffe. Some Medieval and Later Earthworks in South Lincolnshire. VOL 1 pp91-92;VOL 2 Fig71.
  •  Index: SMR FILE. LANGTOFT. TF 11 SW:I,1976, AJW.
  •  Report: John Samuels Archaeological Consultants. 1996. An Archaeological Excavation at Langtoft Hall. LH95.
  •  Archive: John Samuels Archaeological Consultants. 1996. An Archaeological Excavation at Langtoft Hall. LCNCC 163.95.
  •  Report: John Samuels Archaeological Consultants. 1996. Langtoft Hall, Langtoft: An Archaeological Watching Brief. LH 95.
  •  Electronic Communication: 2015. Information from a local resident. November 2015.

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Location

Grid reference Centred TF 1276 1303 (117m by 116m)
Civil Parish LANGTOFT, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE

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Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

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