Reasons for Designation
Fortified houses were residences belonging to some of the richest and most
powerful members of society. Their design reflects a combination of domestic
and military elements. In some instances, the fortifications may be cosmetic
additions to an otherwise conventional high status dwelling, giving a military
aspect while remaining practically indefensible. They are associated with
individuals or families of high status and their ostentatious architecture
often reflects a high level of expenditure. The nature of the fortification
varies, but can include moats, curtain walls, a gatehouse and other towers,
gunports and crenellated parapets.
Their buildings normally included a hall used as communal space for domestic
and administrative purposes, kitchens, service and storage areas. In later
houses the owners had separate private living apartments, these often
receiving particular architectural emphasis. In common with castles, some
fortified houses had outer courts beyond the main defences in which stables,
brew houses, granaries and barns were located.
Fortified houses were constructed in the medieval period, primarily between
the 15th and 16th centuries, although evidence from earlier periods, such as
the increase in the number of licences to crenellate in the reigns of Edward I
and Edward II, indicates that the origins of the class can be traced further
back. They are found primarily in several areas of lowland England: in upland
areas they are outnumbered by structures such as bastles and tower houses
which fulfilled many of the same functions. As a rare monument type, with
fewer than 200 identified examples, all examples exhibiting significant
surviving archaeological remains are considered of national importance.
A park pale was the boundary around an area of land often set aside and
equiped for the management and hunting of deer and other animals although
farming also took place. They were generally located around or adjacent to a
manor house, castle or palace. Parks could contain a number of features,
including hunting lodges, a park keepers house, rabbit warrens, and enclosures
for game. They were usually surrounded by a park pale, a fenced, hedged or
walled boundary often on a massive bank with an internal ditch. The peak
period for the laying out of parks, between AD 1200 and 1350, coincided with a
time of considerable prosperity amongst the nobility. Parks were established
in virtually every county in England and were a long lived and widespread
monument type. Today they serve to illustrate an important aspect of the
activities of medieval nobility and still exert a powerful influence on the
pattern of the modern landscape. Where a park pale survives well, and is
well documented or associated with other significant remains they are normally
identified as nationally important.
The medieval fortified house complex at Markenfield Hall survives well. The
full extent of the outer court is known and earthwork remains of its enclosing
wall and buildings are preserved. The associated park pale also survives well
and is unusually complete. Taken together the remains demonstrate a rare
survival, offering important scope for understanding the nature and functions
of a medieval complex and its impact on the wider economy and landscape.
Details
The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of Markenfield Hall
medieval fortified house and the surviving remains of the park pale which
enclosed the immediate estate of Markenfield.
Markenfield first appears in records in the Domesday Survey in the late 11th
century. The core of the present hall was built by John de Markenfield in 1300
and a licence to crenellate was granted in 1310. The hall remained in the
Markenfield family until the Rebellion of the North in 1569. Following the
suppression of the uprising, Thomas Markenfield fled abroad and the house was
abandoned. After some years the estate passed into the hands of the Egertons,
Earls of Bridgwater and in due course to the Grantley family.
The core of the complex includes a water filled, stone revetted moat 8m wide
with external dimensions of 80m north to south by 70m east to west. The
central platform is occupied by four ranges of buildings which extend around
all four sides of the platform. The principal northern range includes the main
hall which stands at the eastern corner with service buildings to its west.
The hall is an `L' shaped building dating to the 1300s with late 16th century
additions and alterations. The open hall occupies the first floor of the north
wing and the chapel is located in the east wing. Attached to the west end of
the north wing is a lower two storey range which was the great kitchen built
in the early 15th century. The eastern range includes further service
buildings attached to the southern end of the east wing of the hall. The
southern range is dominated by a 16th century gatehouse with flanking walls
linking it to the western and eastern ranges. The gatehouse is a later
replacement of an earlier structure. The western range includes two storey
structures built as stores and service buildings. These were converted in the
17th century for use as farm buildings. Although altered over the years, the
buildings on the moated platform are medieval in origin and have remained in
use for most of their life. They are Listed Grade I and are excluded from the
scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included, as remains of
further structures within the courtyard will also survive below ground.
In the field to the east of the moat a natural slope has been modified to
create a wide level area which is interpreted as the location of formal
gardens, lying as it does next to the main residential wing of the medieval
hall. North of this levelled area are a set of large earthen banks and to the
south east is a further bank. The exact nature and function of these banks is
not yet fully understood. To the west of the moat there is a further
substantial earth bank 5m wide extending parallel to the moat. Further slight
earthworks of buildings and walls survive in the field to the west although
their exact function is, at present, unclear.
To the south of the current farm buildings, which lie to the immediate south
of the moat, are the substantial earthwork remains of the service buildings
for the medieval complex. These buildings lay within an outer court and
include well defined remains of at least four buildings laying either side of
a later field wall. The remains survive up to 0.5m high and include a building
platform 10m by 5m surrounded by a shallow gulley some 1.5m wide. To the east
of these remains are two substantial earthen banks 5m apart and up to 0.5m
high which extend east for 70m then turn to extend south for 100m, and which
are interpreted as the sides of a track way. The curtain wall which surrounded
the outer court survives as a prominent bank along the western side of a track
extending south west from the farm buildings. To the west of this wall,
outside the outer court, are remains of ridge and furrow cultivation. The
southern and eastern sides of the outer court are defined by the park pale but
the location of the boundary on the north side is currently unknown.
The park pale originally extended for 2.8km around Markenfield Hall and a
continuous length of 2.4km still survives as a stone wall. Only the section of
the eastern side nearest to the hall is no longer extant although its location
is suggested by a trackway that continues the alignment of the park pale. This
section is not included in the scheduling. The park pale originally consisted
of a stone wall built in places on an earthwork bank up to 5m wide. The
surviving wall is semi-ruinous for much of its length but stands in places up
to 2m high. Although medieval in origin it has been rebuilt and maintained
over the years and it is unclear how much of the present above ground fabric
is medieval. For this reason only the foundation course and the below ground
remains are included. On the eastern, northern and north western sides there
was an internal ditch up to 3m wide and probably an external ditch. On the
western side the pale extended along a slope so that there was no need for an
internal ditch on the down slope. However an external ditch lay on the up
slope side and this still survives as an earthwork. For much of the length of
the pale agricultural activity has led to the infilling of the ditches. They
will survive as buried features and are included in the scheduling. The
protected area therefore includes a zone of 4m along each side of the wall.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are Markenfield
Hall and all structures on the moated platform, the farm buildings,
Markenfield Hall Cottages, all fences, gates, the surfaces of drives, hard
standing, the farm yards, the field wall extending south from the cattle grid,
the cattle grid, the electricity poles and supports, the wooden footbridge and
the stone park wall to ground level; although the ground beneath all these
features is included. Also excluded is the stone wall, although its foundation
courses and the ground beneath it are 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.
