Wall enclosing garden to east of Rayne Hall and adjoining church yard (EHER 18267)

Early 16th century brick garden wall with three doorways with four-centred arches.

Monument description derived from merging EHER 18267 and 27656. Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: In July 1998, RCHME carried out a Level 1 field survey of the environs of Rayne Hall. The garden wall, which is of earlier 16th century date, was previously recorded in passing along with the house itself <1> <2>. The wall encloses three sides of an almost square garden compartment, the house completing the north-west side. It is built in red brick, 2.1m high with a plinth. The south-western side appears to have been largely re-built, possibly in the later 19th century, and the moulded brick coping may have been added or replaced at this time. In the south-eastern wall, giving access onto the churchyard, is a moulded doorway with four-centred head and moulded label over, set between the raised and chamfered porchway, band and moulded coping over, with central carved stone face <3>. In the north-eastern wall is a second moulded doorway, also with four-centred head. The doorway is less well preserved but there is some evidence for additional decoration. This doorway may have given access onto another garden compartment. A third doorway, of similar form, lies midway along the return between the south-western side and the corner of the house. Early editions of the Ordnance Survey 25-inch indicate the existence of a small building at this point. A gap, with off-set terminals, near the northern end of the north-eastern side may indicate the presence of another doorway or small building. For further details, see report at Level 1. <4> In early January 1999, RCHME carried out more detailed analysis of the wall as part of a Level 3 survey of the complex. The walled compartment is a parallelogram in plan, the alignment of the north-eastern and south-western sides dictated by the line of a path running directly between the door in the south-eastern side of the house and the western end of the church. The survey confirmed that the south-western wall is likely to be a re-build, perhaps of early 20th century date (possibly Arts and Crafts period). The short stretch of wall between the present south-western side and the southern corner of the house is original, and is clearly abutted by the rebuilt section. However, it did not turn along the course of the rebuilt wall, but in the opposite direction across the south-western front of the house, perhaps in order to enclose a courtyard. This raises the possibility that the garden compartment may have been much larger, perhaps completely enclosing two former ponds evident as earthworks in the field to the south-west of the walled compartment. The opening in this short original section, which was initially identified as a doorway <4>, seems to have originally been a window, again with moulded surround and four centred head similar in form to the doorways. The wall is built in English bond to the level of the plinth and in irregular Flemish bond above this. The section of wall between the eastern corner of the house and the north-eastern wall of the compartment retains a short section of coping bricks laid in a cog tooth arrangement, which may be the original coping. The moulded coping may have been a relatively early addition, although the section along the top of the rebuilt south-western side must be of recent date. For further information, see RCHME Level 3 report and plan at 1:1000 scale. <5>