Monument record MLI40716 - Bratoft Hall and Gardens

Summary

The site of Bratoft Hall and gardens.

Type and Period (6)

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Full Description

The monument includes a medieval moated site with associated garden remains, 550m north of Manor Farm. The moated site is known to have been the location of Bratoft Hall, a medieval house built by the Markham family, who owned the site between 1409 and 1538. The house subsequently passed through marriage to the Massingberds, who in 1698 had Bratoft Hall demolished and moved to a new house at Gunby. The remains include the earthworks of a raised moated platform where the buried remains of the medieval house are located. The moat is partly water-filled, up to 5m in width and 2m in depth and defines a rectilinear area approximately 90m by a maximum of 105m. A causeway about 2.5m in width crosses the eastern side of the moat and represents the original access to the island. Brickwork visible within the southern edge of the causeway is considered to represent the remains of revetting. Chalk blocks within the inner edge of the moat, adjacent to the causeway are also considered to have fulfilled a similar function. A parallel series of banks and ditches running on an east-north-east to west-south-west axis immediately north of the moat are considered to represent contemporary formal garden remains associated with the hall. The garden remains overlie traces of earlier ridge and furrow cultivation. A linear depression up to 2m in width and 0.6m in depth, running for 45m on a north-north-east to south-south-west axis, from the field boundary into the north-west corner of the moat is considered to represent the remains of a contemporary water control feature, originally feeding the site from the west, but later truncated by ploughing. {1}{2}{3}{4}{5} Finds include 'stamped tile similar to Stixwould ones', post-medieval Green Glaze and Siegburg Stoneware. Local 17th century wares were retrieved from the inner edge of the moat. {6}{7} The earthworks in and around the moated enclosure were surveyed in 2012, as part of the creation of a management plan for Bratoft Moated Manor and Landscape. The moat has moderately steep sides and a largely flat base, and continues to hold water in places. The enclosed area is relatively flat, and appears to be devoid of earthworks. Two small areas of structural remains were identified; a 9m length of stonework on the inner face of the eastern side of the moat, thought to be the remains of a revetment wall, and a 1.5m area of brickwork on the southern side of the causeway, which likely formed part of a bridge or abutment for a bridge. The earthworks around the remains of the moat represented the remains of an Elizabethan formal garden. The earthworks to the immediate north and east of the moat comprise a number of linear banks and ditches, thought to be the remains of pleasure or kitchen gardens, directly linked to the occupation of Bratoft Hall. This garden was thought to extend out to the east, where two ponds, originally separate, but now joined by a small channel, were thought to have been fish ponds. A magnetometry survey was also undertaken as part of the project, on the land within the moated enclosure. Significant magnetic anomalies were revealed, indicating evidence for archaeological activity associated with the construction and demolition of the hall, including likely wall foundations, yards and rubble spreads. The anomalies indicated a likely plan of the manorial complex, with the main range of the hall aligned north-south, along the western edge of the moat, and a smaller range running along the northern edge, running into a possible courtyard in the north-eastern corner of the enclosure. A palaeoenvironmental survey, consisting of 8 auger transects across the moat for Bratoft Hall, was also conducted. The original profile of the moat was identified, being approximately 3m deep and up to 4m wide at its base, when it was first dug. None of the samples recovered from the auger transects were waterlogged or rich in organic remains, suggesting the moat fills have been subjected to repeated wetting and drying. {8}

Sources/Archives (8)

  •  Index: Ordnance Survey. Ordnance Survey Card Index. TF 46 NE: 8.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William White. 1872. History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire - Third Edition. p.275.
  •  Report: National Trust. 1986. Archaeological Survey, Gunby Hall. pp.11-2.
  •  Scheduling Record: ENGLISH HERITAGE. 1998. SCHEDULING DOCUMENT 30219. MPP 22.
  •  Map: University College London. 1989. Earthwork surveys for National Trust. Bratoft Hall moated site.
  •  Index: Lincolnshire County Council. Sites and Monuments Record Card Index. TF 46 NE: H.
  •  Artefact: City and County Museum Collection. LM 171.77.
  •  Report: Allen Archaeology Ltd. 2012. Landscape Management Plan for Bratoft Moated Manor and Landscape, The Gunby Estate. AAL site code: BRMM 12.

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Location

Grid reference Centred TF 4727 6547 (329m by 223m) Estimated from Sources
Civil Parish GUNBY, EAST LINDSEY, LINCOLNSHIRE
Civil Parish BRATOFT, EAST LINDSEY, LINCOLNSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (2)

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Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

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