Manhale (The Gatehouse Record)

Manhale

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Manhall, Emanuel Wood, Emmanuel Wood, Paddocks Wood

In the civil parish of Little Chesterford.
In the historic county of Essex.
Modern Authority of Essex.
1974 county of Essex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL53004154
Latitude 52.05132° Longitude 0.23012°

Manhale has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are uncertain remains.

Description

King writes "licensed 1259. Something may have come of this." Before Domesday and the conquest the manor was held by Siward. In 1086 it was held by Alan of Brittany and Geoffrey de Mandeville (with Siward as tenant). The de Mandeville connection becomes confused but in 1199 it was given by King Steven to St Edmund's Abbey. It was held by the Abbot of Walden Abbey. In 1257 it was given to Richard, Earl of Gloucester (not clear if as owner or tenant) who built a castle on his land in Manhall. The manor was in the area of Chesterford Park and two sites are given as a possible location for this castle. The existing triangular moat in Paddocks Wood at TL53704295, the subject of an amateur excavation in the 1970's (NMRN-374302, SMRN-4757) or a 'moat leveled by ploughing' in Emanuel Wood at TL53004154 (NMRN-374293, SMRN-4768). There does not appear to be any remains of an associated village and I can find little to differentiate the two sites as the possible location of the C13 castle. However, the Emanuel Wood site, although more damaged, does appear to be larger and on this bases I slightly favour this site.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1259 Nov 7 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Links to mapping and other online resources

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Sources of information, references and further reading

English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 374293; 374302.
County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 4768; 4757; 4769; 4758.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 148
  Reaney, P.H., 1935, The Place-Names of Essex (English Place-Name Society 12) p. 520
  RCHME, 1916, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex Vol. 1 (north-west) p. 115 no. 4 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1972, 'Medieval Britain in 1971' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 16 p. 193-4 download copy
  Wilson, D.M. and Moorhouse, S., 1971, 'Medieval Britain in 1970' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 15 p. 161 download copy
  Wilson, D.M. and Hurst, D.G.(eds), 1968, 'Medieval Britain in 1967:G. Manors and Moats' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 12 p. 188 download copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1910, Calendar of Patent Rolls Henry III (1258-66) Vol. 5 p. 61 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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This record last updated on Friday, May 3, 2013

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