Possible site of royal manor house at Newport (EHER 18805)

There is known to have been a manor house in Newport, owned originally by the King and then by the Earls of Cornwall. Its identification is not proven but it is probable that early post-medieval references to the presence of a 'Stone Hall' and a gatehouse in the town refer to the manor house.

There is known to have been a manor house in Newport, owned originally by the King and then by the Earls of Cornwall. Its identification is not proven but it is probable that early post-medieval references to the presence of a 'Stone Hall' and a gatehouse in the town refer to the manor house. <1> The use of stone as building material in Essex is normally only confined to important public buildings or the homes of the very wealthy, and in Newport the only other stone buildings were the church and the hospital. The location of the 'Stone Hall' is given in a 1760 rental as being on the west side of South Street, near the later Newport House. In addition to the manor house there would have been the usual range of farm-buildings, for example permission was granted in 1229 to take twenty royal oaks to build a barn on the manor. <2>