A Watching Brief at , and Wrekin

by H R Hannaford

Archaeology Service Archaeology Service Report Number 210 © County Council June 2002

A WATCHING BRIEF AT HIGH ERCALL,

by H R HANNAFORD MIFA

A Report for R & D PROPERTY DEVELOPMENTS LTD.

Archaeology Service Unit 4, Owen House, Radbrook Centre, Radbrook Road,, SY3 9BJ Tel: (01743) 254018 Fax: (01743) 254047 TELFORD & WREKIN COUNCIL A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin

CONTENTS Page No SUMMARY 1 1 INTRODUCTION 2 2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3 3 THE WATCHING BRIEF 7 4DISCUSSION 9 5 REFERENCES AND SOURCES CONSULTED 10

ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: The location of the development site; 1:5000 scale Figure 2: Extract from John Rocque's 1746 survey of the manor of High Ercall (SRR 6900/2) Figure 3: Extract from the 1st edition Ordnance Survey 25" plan of 1881; 1:2500 scale Figure 4: The study area, showing principal features seen during the watching brief; 1:500 scale Figure 5: The foundation trench for the new northern site boundary wall; a) southeastern section; b) central section; 1:25 scale

Plate 1: Ercall Hall from the south Plate 2: The development site, looking east Plate 3: Remains of the post-medieval barn, showing walls 17 & 18 (looking east) Plate 4: The northwestern wall (18) of the post-medieval barn

SUMMARY In 2002 the Archaeology Service carried out a watching brief on a housing development at Ercall Hall, High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin. Ercall Hall is a 17th-century hall on the site of a medieval and early post-medieval moated mansion house. The housing development was built in part of a later post-medieval and modern farmyard that lay over the southwestern side of the former moated site. The watching brief recorded the location of southwestern arm of the moat, and the remains of a number of post-medieval agricultural buildings.

Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 1 Report No. 210 June 2002 A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin

1 INTRODUCTION High Ercall lies within the modern of Ercall Magna in Telford and Wrekin, and is situated 10.5km northeast of the centre of Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Ercall Hall is situated on the eastern side of the modern village.

There has been a settlement at High Ercall since late Saxon times at least. Ercall Hall (County Sites and Monuments Record No. SA140) itself is a 17th- century building lying within a moated site dating back to the medieval period. The hall was fortified and garrisoned by the Royalists during the Civil War, and was besieged on two occasions.

In 2002, work began on a new housing development on the southern side of the former moated site (see Figure 1). Because of the historical and archaeological significance of the site, an archaeological evaluation of the development area had been undertaken in 1998 by Cambrian Archaeology Projects Ltd. The evaluation identified the southern arm of the moat around the hall and recommended that an archaeological watching brief accompany the proposed development of the site (Halfpenney, 1998).

It was made a condition of the planning consent for the proposed development that an archaeological watching brief should accompany destructive groundworks. The Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council, was commissioned to carry out this watching brief by the developers, R & D Property Developments Ltd. This report details the results of the archaeological monitoring of this works.

Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 2 Report No. 210 June 2002 A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin

2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Prehistoric and Roman Occupation Evidence of early (Neolithic or ) prehistoric activity in the area comes from the finding of a flint flake (SA1616) at High Ercall. There are a number of cropmark enclosures of probable Iron Age or Romano-British date in the area, one at Walton (SA2229), and three at Cotwall (SA472, SA2023, and SA2025), with a cropmark trackway and field system at Cotwall (SA2026) and another trackway and possible enclosure (SA4470) at High Ercall, both possibly also belonging to this period. It is possible that the medieval manor had its origins in an estate of this period, bounded by the Lakemoor Brook to the north and the Rivers Roden to the west and Tern to the east. It has been argued that place-name evidence from the late Saxon and Norman manor of Ercall indicates continued Romano-British occupation (Ercall, Walton, Cotwall, ) of the area in the early medieval period alongside Saxon settlement (Rodington, Osbaston, Sleap, and Weeseland), with Ercall being the name for the whole area. (Hill, 1984, 4)

The Medieval Manor In 1066 the manor of Ercall included the townships of Ercall, Walton, Osbaston, Cotwall, Moortown, and Tern, and Sherlowe and Weeseland. Crudgington was also administratively part of manor at this time, but had been detached by 1086. The manor lay within Wrockwardine Hundred, although later in the medieval period it belonged to Bradford Hundred. (Hill 1984, 4 and Thorn, 1986, 4,1,21 notes.)

Before 1066, the manor was held by Edwin, Earl of Mercia (c.1062 -c.1071) and was valued at £20. Edwin had inherited the manor from his grandfather, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and it was he and his wife, the Countess Godiva, who were responsible for the initial development of the manor and its organisation. According to custom, when the Countess visited the estate 18 sums of 20d each were brought to her. After Edwin's death in 1071, his lands were given to Roger of Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, and at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, Ercall was held directly by Earl Roger. The manor then comprised 7 hides; there were 6 ploughs and 12 ploughmen in lordship, and there were 29 villagers and 12 smallholders with a further 15 ploughs. The estate also included two mills, paying 12 packloads of corn, a fishery paying 1,502 large eels, and a wood 1 league long. At the time of the Survey, the manor's value remained £20. (Hill 1984, 5 and Thorn, 1986, 4,1,21 and notes.)

There was no church at High Ercall until c.1090 when Earl Roger founded a semi-collegiate church dedicated to St Edward 'le Roy' (Edward the Confessor), with land to support two priests - a rector, who held the glebe and received the tithes, and a vicar paid a stipend of £10 a year. The advowson of the church was given to by Earl Roger, and in 1227 the Abbey was allowed to appropriate the living and became the rector. (Hill, 1984, 7)

After the rebellion of Earl Roger's son and heir, Robert de Bellême, in 1101,

Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 3 Report No. 210 June 2002 A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin the manor was forfeited to the Crown, and was later granted by Henry I to Hamo Peverel. Hamo held Ercall by the service of one knight. On his death, the estate was divided into thirds among his coheirs, but it was re-united between 1155 and 1165 by his grandson, William of Ercall I. (Hill, 1984, 7)

John of Ercall, who succeeded to the manor in 1256, founded a manorial borough at Ercall, using 1½ carucates of land in Coneygrey field on the north side of the Shrewsbury to Newport road, and in 1267 he obtained a market charter. The borough was only a moderate success, having to compete not only with the established markets at Shrewsbury and Newport, but also another newly created market at Wellington. (Hill, 1984, 15 and Fig. 31)

William of Ercall V, who inherited the manor in 1304 built a chantry with 6 priests in the churchyard after the death of Petronilla, his mother, in 1331-2; they were given the dower house at the bottom of the hall garden as their community home. William also endowed the chantry with 4 acres of land on the edge of the manor in Brademere in Penmarsh, and the chaplains were allowed to lease a further 6 acres of Brademere. (Hill, 1984, 10 & 19.)

When he settled his estate in 1334, William of Ercall V ensured that the manor passed intact to his grandson, William Caverswell (Hill, 1984, 18). The Gech alias Newport family inherited the manor in 1398 and it remained their chief residence until after the Civil War (Ferris and Litherland, 1991, 11). A resettlement of the manor in 1424 provides a description of the hall and its environs as it was in the early 15th century and probably as it remained until its rebuilding in c. 1608. The hall buildings consisted of a hall and chambers, including a great chamber, a kitchen, larderhouse, bakehouse, brewhouse, gate and bridge, a dovehouse, and a gatehouse; a house (le Noresry) within the gardens, a stable, a great barn, a "hayeberrie", an oxhouse, carter's stable, yeomen's stable, a tower (le Birlyreka), another stone tower, a garner, orchards and gardens, park, and woodland. (Hill, 1984, 32.)

The Post-medieval Manor By the 17th century, the Newport family had become one of the wealthiest families in the county. The present Hall building is thought to date to the early 17th century; Sir Francis Newport was responsible for its construction, and a plaque dated 1608, located on the middle gable of the northeast elevation of the hall, may date the completion of this work. During the Civil War, Sir Richard Newport was created Lord Newport for his contribution (£6000) to the royalist cause (he relinquished this title after the war) and High Ercall was an important royalist garrison for much of the war. Fortifications undertaken by Sir Richard Newport probably included the excavation or deepening of the moat and possibly the construction of a drawbridge. Five defensive watchtowers, the remains of which were still visible in c.1796, may also have formed part of these fortifications. High Ercall was besieged and fell in 1646, after severe damage was inflicted on the hall, outbuildings, and church. The new defensive works were ordered to be slighted, and the moat drained. The hall was subsequently repaired, probably by Sir Richard's son, Sir Francis Newport II (later the earl of Bradford), and let to tenants, one of whom was John Stanier, Sir Francis's agent, the Newport family taking up residence at Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 4 Report No. 210 June 2002 A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin their house at (also built by Sir Francis Newport I in 1607).(Ferris and Litherland, 1991, 10-12, and Stamper, 1996, 9-10.)

An 18th-century estate plan of High Ercall (Figure 2) shows the 17th-century hall, with barns to the south and south west, the church, the southern arm of the moat, and the medieval mansion (Rocque, 1746). Traces of the medieval mansion and fortifications were still visible in the grounds of the new hall in the 19th century (Buteux, 1996, 5). There are a number of late 18th- and 19th-century illustrations which show views of the present hall with a number of additional ranges and outbuildings on the eastern side which presumably were remains of the medieval mansion complex (e.g. Stackhouse-Acton, 1868).

Previous Archaeological Work on the Site There are two recorded find-spots in the vicinity of the hall of objects probably associated with the Civil War siege. A hoard of some 1000 silver coins (SA2832.), weighing 12.25lbs, was found by workmen in 1817 when levelling a mound near the hall. The coins were mainly of Charles I, but included some of Philip and Mary and some of Elizabeth I. In 1983 a collection of musket balls (SA3738) was found c.500m to the east of the house in what may have been main camp of the parliamentarian besiegers of the hall in the Civil War.

A human skeleton was found in 1977 on the postulated line of the southeast arm of the moat. The sequence of deposits suggested that the moat had been cut into red sand; the ditch silts were sealed by a rubble layer of brick, mortar, and sandstone fragments surmounted by a wall. Although its exact stratigraphic position had been destroyed, the skeleton, orientated on burials within the churchyard, appeared to have been buried in a grave cut through the rubble layer. (SMR entry for SA140)

In 1991 Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit excavated a number of trial trenches around the hall, undertook a survey of the extant earthworks, and recorded some of the external elevations of the hall (Ferris and Litherland, 1991). Three trenches were excavated to investigate the line of the northern arm of the moat. In each case, the outer edge of the ditch was defined, but not its inner edge or bottom, and the earliest deposits sampled dated to the 17th century; it was not established whether the ditch was a purely Civil War defensive fortification or whether it followed the line of an existing medieval moat. Massive stone foundations, thought to be those of a stone tower, were found c.20m south of the hall, and a trench adjacent to the arcade (SA16928) suggested that it was a late (date unspecified) garden feature. (Ferris and Litherland, 1991)

In March 1998, the remains of a medieval sandstone building were recorded during a watching brief on work in the churchyard of St Michael's Church, High Ercall (SA12880). The building was 11m wide, and was stone-built with substantial foundations. An internal arcade or dividing wall suggested that these remains represented an undercroft for a first-floor hall. The building may possibly have been the medieval dower house at the bottom of the gardens of High Ercall Hall which William of Ercall V turned into a home for Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 5 Report No. 210 June 2002 A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin the chaplains of the chantry he founded there in 1334. (Hannaford, 1998)

In September 1998, Cambrian Archaeology Projects Ltd. undertook an evaluation of land to the south of Ercall Hall. The evaluation identified the southern arm of the moat around the hall, and concluded that the moat had been substantially remodelled and enlarged during the Civil War. The evaluation suggested that the moat was 14m wide by 4m in depth. (Halfpenney, 1998)

In 2002 the Channel 4 carried out investigations at High Ercall Hall. The investigations comprised a geophysical survey, documentary research, and trial excavations. The investigations located a number of internal walls and an external wall of the former mansion, and a section of the medieval moat and Civil War defences. The investigations again appeared to confirm the suggestion that stone arcade to the east of the present hall had been re-located, and dated it as being no more than 300 years old. (Time Team, 2002)

Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 6 Report No. 210 June 2002 A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin

3 THE WATCHING BRIEF In January 2001 a number of test pits were excavated by machine around the study area to determine the nature and depth of the subsoil. In most of these test-pits what appeared to be natural sand was seen at depths of between 300mm and 1.2m below the existing ground surface. One test pit in the northern part of the study area was cut over the western corner of the line of the moat that surrounded the medieval mansion and post-medieval hall. In this pit a mix of organic silts and sands, probably the fill of the moat, were seen to continue down for a depth of at least 3.1m; the natural sand was not seen in this pit.

In December 2001 a trench was excavated for the foundations of a new boundary wall running between the northern corner of one of the barns in the northeastern side of the development site and the Shrewsbury Road. The natural sand subsoil (Figure 5; 4) was seen at southeastern end of this trench at a depth of 1.25m below the ground surface. It lay beneath a layer up to 0.4m thick of light grey silty sand (3), 0.8m of recently built-up ground (2), and a thin (0.1m thick) layer of topsoil (1). The trench ran across the line of the western arm of the moat between 7m and about 15m from the barn. The upper fill (6) of the moat was seen in the base of the trench and consisted of a dark grey sandy silt (6). The inner edge of the moat was lined with a red sandstone wall (5), also seen in the base of the trench, aligned northeast/southwest at right angles to the line of the trench. The outer edge of the moat was obscured by modern disturbance, but lay approximately 6.5m from the northwestern boundary of the site, as here the natural sand subsoil re-emerged in the base of the trench. This western arm of the moat would thus have been between 7m and 8m wide. The 1998 evaluation had suggested that the moat was 14m in width. However, one trench (Trench 2) only positively identified the inner edge of the moat, and the other trench (Trench1) was cut at an angle across the western corner of the moat, probably considerably exaggerating the real width of this feature (Halfpenny, 1998, sec.5 & Figs. 4, 5, & 7).

Between February and May 2002 the development site was cleared and topsoil was stripped from the site of the two new houses, and their foundations and drainage trenches were excavated.

The northeastern boundary of the development site was marked by the southwestern side wall (17) and northwestern end wall (18) of a barn, now partially demolished (see Figure 4 & Plates 3 & 4). The lower part of these walls were built of well coursed squared and faced red and buff sandstone blocks bonded in a hard buff mortar of early post-medieval or possibly medieval type. The superstructure of the barn was of later 18th-century brickwork and had been built up on the stone walls, perhaps replacing a former timber superstructure. The barn is shown on the 1746 estate plan and was the southernmost building within the post-medieval moated site, lying along the inner edge of the southern arm of the moat. The stonework of the lower parts of this barn was probably post-medieval in date, although a medieval date for it cannot be ruled out.

Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 7 Report No. 210 June 2002 A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin

In the western part of the study area, the topsoil strip revealed the foundation remains of a stone wall (Figure 4; 11) aligned northeast to southwest with a return (14) to the southeast. These walls were built mainly of red sandstone, but with some buff sandstone and cobbles, and were bonded in hard pink mortar of post-medieval type. The walls corresponded in position to the northwestern side and southwestern end of a barn shown on the 1881 OS map but not on the 1746 estate plan (Figures 3 & 2). The foundations had been severely truncated by later activity on the site, so that for the most part only a single course of stonework survived.

The foundation trenches for the eastern of the two houses to be built on the site revealed the top of the infilled moat. Only the uppermost fill of the moat was disturbed, and this consisted of mixed dirty brown sand with brick, sandstone, and mortar rubble inclusions. The moat was seen to be 7m wide at this point, and it had been cut into the natural red sand subsoil. Both the fill of the moat and the natural subsoil were sealed by a layer of mixed rubble in a brown sandy matrix of between 0.20m and 0.40m in depth which lay beneath the topsoil, which here was approximately 0.40m thick.

Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 8 Report No. 210 June 2002 A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin

4 DISCUSSION The watching brief confirmed the location of the southern and western arms of the moat around the medieval mansion and post-medieval hall, and noted the presence of a stone revetment wall on the inner side of the western arm of the moat. Both arms of the moat were seen to be approximately 7m wide.

The southwestern side wall and northwestern end wall of a barn shown on a 1746 estate plan were also seen to have survived more recent construction and demolition work within the former farmyard. This barn was the southernmost building within the post-medieval moated site, and lay along the inner edge of the southern arm of the moat. This barn was probably post- medieval in date, although a medieval date for it cannot be ruled out. The southwestern wall of this barn marked the northeastern boundary of the present development site.

During the topsoil strip the remains of another post-medieval barn built across the southern arm of the moat were revealed. This building was probably erected in the late 18th or early 19th century, after the southern arm of the moat had been filled in.

Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 9 Report No. 210 June 2002 A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin

5 REFERENCES AND SOURCES CONSULTED Buteux, V, 1996: Archaeological Assessment of High Ercall, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcester Archaeology Service Report No. 317 Ferris, I, and Litherland, S, 1991: Archaeological Work at Ercall Hall, High Ercall, Shropshire in 1991, Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit Report No. 171 Halfpenney, I, 1998: Ercall Hall, High Ercall, Shropshire, Cambrian Archaeological Projects Report no. 61 Hannaford, H R, 1998: A Watching Brief at St Michael and All Angels' Church, High Ercall, Wrekin, Shropshire County Council Archaeology Service Report No. 139 Hill, M C, 1984: The Demesne and the Waste, TSAS vol. 62 (1979-80) Ordnance Survey, 1881: 1:2500 1st edition, Shropshire Sheet No. XXIX.15 Rocque, J, 1746: Survey of the Manor of High Ercall, SRR 6900/2 Stamper, P, 1993: A Survey of Historic Parks and Gardens in Shropshire, Shropshire County Council Archaeology Service Report No. 41 Stamper, P, 1996: Historic Parks and Gardens of Shropshire, Shropshire Books, Shrewsbury Thorn, F and Thorn, C (eds), 1986: Domesday Book: Shropshire, Chichester Time Team, 2002: High Ercall, Shropshire, http://www.channel 4.com/history/timeteam/highercall.html Toghill, P, 1990: Geology in Shropshire, Shrewsbury

Abbreviations: OS Ordnance Survey SMR Sites and Monuments Record, Shire Hall, Shrewsbury SRR Shropshire Records and Research, Castle Gates, Shrewsbury TSAS Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society TSAHS Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society VCHS Victoria County

Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council 10 Report No. 210 June 2002 the development site

Based upon the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Shropshire County Council. LA 076821. 13/06/02

ERCALL HALL 2002 Figure 1: The location of the development site; 1:5000 scale moat

17thC hall

old hall

barn church

barn

moat

© Shropshire County Council

ERCALL HALL 2002 Figure 2: Extract from John Rocque's 1746 survey of the manor of High Ercall (SRR 6900/2) © Shropshire County Council

ERCALL HALL 2002 Figure 3: Extract from the 1st edition Ordnance Survey 25" plan of 1881; 1:2500 scale 6 5

18

17 11

14

line of the moat

Based upon the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Shropshire County Council. LA 076821. 13/06/02

ERCALL HALL 2002 Figure 4: The study area, showing principal features seen during the watching brief; 1:500 scale SE NW

18 1

2

3 4

a)

SE NW

1

2

5 4 9

6 b)

0 1 metre

ERCALL HALL 2002 Figure 5: The foundation trench for the new northern site boundary wall; a) southeastern section; b) central section; 1:25 scale A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin

Plate 1: Ercall Hall from the south.

Plate 2: The development site, looking east. A Watching Brief at High Ercall, Telford and Wrekin

Plate 3: Remains of the post-medieval barn, showing walls 17 & 18 (looking east)

Plate 4: The northwestern wall (18) of the post-medieval barn.