Monument record 3250/4 - Hall Manor, Wollaston

The remains of a medieval manor house and associated structures are visible as earthwork banks and ditches on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data. Located in fields west of London Road and north of the recreation ground, Wollaston, the earthworks extend across an area about 195 metres SSW-NNE and 108 metres WNW-ESE. The earthworks are complex but there seems to be a main platform at the northern edge of the area with several subsidiary smaller building platforms, clearly marking the sites of buildings, to the south. A series of linear earthworks banks form small rectilinear enclosures, along with a number of large pits that may have been ponds. The features are visible on aerial photographs taken in 2018.

{1} Earthwork plan of site. A detailed earthwork survey of the site was carried out due to the threat of destruction by road construction, however the proposed route of the by-pass has now been modified in part to preserve the manor site, which is now scheduled. The documentary evidence for the manor site has been discussed in detail elsewhere, but a large scale measured plan of the site has not previously been published. The ‘Hall Manor’ is recorded at Domesday as the smaller of two manors of Wollaston. It appears to have occupied this site since at least the C12th, for the manorial boundary has been identified as that recorded in 1231 AD as ‘already ancient’, and the manor house is presumed to have continued in use until demolished in the late C15th.

The manorial enclosure has clearly been laid out over part of an earlier furlong, as the documents suggest, the fishponds clearly cutting the ridge and furrow. However it is not certain from the earthworks whether the central manorial area was also laid out over the same furlong or if it indeed predates the laying out of the open fields.


{2} The Domesday survey provides the first written record of Wollaston, noting the existence of two manors there. After the reformation, the two manors and priory were given to the Duchy of Lancaster which leased out much of the land.

The site consists of two conjoined rectangular embanked enclosures each covering about 0.5ha. The east one has a series of rectangular platforms at its south end and part of a holloway in the south-east corner. The west enclosure is devoid of any interior features, but two small depressions to the south are possibly ponds. Further south again, near the stream, is a large embanked depression which is certainly a fishpond.

{3} Small scale plan.

{5} The southern focus of the early village is more complex and consists of a closely-knit group of narrow streets. This was certainly the centre of the second manor listed under Wollaston in Domesday Book, gelding for two hides and held by the Countess Judith. This manor too has been traced down to the C19th, and again its enclosed demesne land was entirely around this southern focus. Here the medieval manor house site survives and excavation has produced not only material of early Saxon date, but also evidence of Roman occupation. Further Roman and early Saxon occupation debris has been discovered nearby. Village plan, Fig 67.

{9} There is no documentary evidence for Wollaston prior to the Domesday Survey of 1086. At that time there were two manors. The larger Bury Manor comprised 5 hides of land (c.600 acres) held by Gunfrid of Chocques. The smaller Hall Manor comprised 2 hides (c.240 acres) held by Corbelin from Countess Judith.
Eight people are recorded as living on the smaller manor; a slave, 6 villagers and a smallholder, giving a total estimated population of c.32. A mill worth 6s 8d and 12 acres of meadow were also listed. There was apparently a dispute over the manor as it was also claimed by Winemar of Hanslip.
By the end of the C12th Hall Manor was in the possession of the de Wollastone family, who took their name from the village. It remained with them until the late C15th when it was conveyed to the Dean and Canons of the College of St Mary at Leicester. The college demolished the manorial complex in the late C15th. By this time this college also held the larger Bury Manor.
After Dissolution Wollaston became Crown property until 1606 when it was granted to Thomas Marbury and Richard Cartwright. By 1635 it was in the possession of John, Earl of Bridgwater. In 1709 the estate was sold to Thomas Wentworth. It later became the possession of the Dickins family.

{10, 11, 12} As described above, earthwork banks and ditches suggest the remains of a medieval settlement, visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data and was mapped as part of the Bedford Borough NMP project. Located in fields west of London Road and north of the recreation ground, Wollaston, and centred at SP 90505 62349, the earthworks extend across an area about 195 metres SSW-NNE and 108 metres WNW-ESE. A series of linear earthworks banks form small rectilinear enclosures, along with a number of large pits that may have been ponds. Residential expansion has taken place over some of the earthworks visible on aerial photographs teken in 1944. The remaining features are visible on aerial photographs taken in 2018. To the west and east are boundary banks, against which abut medieval or post medieval ridge and furrow cultivation earthworks.

{13, 14} SP 905625 Manorial earthworks crown a spur of a hill immediately south-west of the village of Wollaston. The earthworks are complex but there seems to be a main platform at the northern edge of the area with several subsidiary smaller building platforms, clearly marking the sites of buildings, to the south.

The site is clearly the lesser of two manors existing at Wollaston in 1086; the greater is now represented by the motte (SP 96 SW 17), church and Hall.

<1> FOARD G., 1979, Northamptonshire County Council: Hall Manor, Wollaston, p.49-50 (checked) (Journal). SNN34454.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.202/Site 34 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<3> Hall D.N., 1977, Wollaston: Portrait of A Village, (unchecked) (Book). SNN48190.

<4> Richards K., 2001, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Wollaston, Section 1.0 Historical Development (checked?) (Report). SNN101566.

<5> TAYLOR C.C., 1977, Notes and News: Polyfocal Settlement and The English Village, p.189-93 (checked) (Journal). SNN39571.

<6> Salzman L.F.(ed), 1937, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.58-60 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100371.

<7> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.181 site 34 (unchecked) (Series). SNN77380.

<8> Ashworth H.; Turner C., 1999, Land Off Dando Close, Wollaston, Northamptonshire: Evaluation Report (HN224), p.5 (unchecked) (Report). SNN74276.

<9> Semmelmann K., 2003, Land at Dando Close, Wollaston, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Assessment Report, September 2003, p.3-4 (checked) (Report). SNN104819.

<10> Vertical Aerial Photograph, US/7GR/LOC334 V 5001-5002 31-MAY-1944 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<11> Environment Agency, LIDAR Composite DTM - 1m, LIDAR SP 9062 Environment Agency 1m DTM 04-JUL-2006–03-AUG-2017 (Digital Plots). SNN111710.

<12> Vertical Aerial Photograph, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SP9462 12-JUN-2018 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<13> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, APs (RAF 541/341 4080-1 15.8.49) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<14> Department of Environment, DoE (IAM) Ancient Monument Recording Form, DOE (IAM) AM Rec Form 28.2.77 (Recording Form (Not SMR)). SNN115398.

Record last edited

Aug 29 2023 10:42AM