Medieval ponds at Rayne Hall (EHER 6517)

Medieval earthworks, including a moat-like complex of fishponds, apparently partly ornamental in purpose. Finds include pottery, tile and brick recovered from the site of an adjacent earlier churchyard boundary.

Monument description derived from merging EHER 6517, 6518, and 6519. Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Possible medieval earthworks, including a pond, noted between the hall and the church. Nothing visible on RAF air photographs CPE/UK/1993 3277-8,13.4.47. <1> A sherd of a red-ware jug, with dark exterior and cream-slip decoration and a shallow graffito-ware vessel were recovered from the graveyard south of the church. Associated with 16th century tile and brick fragments the sherds lay on the line of an earlier curving churchyard boundary. A paddock between the church and hall contains a number of possible earthworks, one of which is a rectangular depression, formerly a pond. The finds are in Braintree Museum. <2> In July 1998, RCHME carried out a Level 1 survey of the environs of Rayne Hall. The pond noted by previous investigators appears to be one of a series of long rectangular ponds laid out in a discontinuous moat like arrangement around the house, possibly defining garden apartments associated with the enlargement of the house in the earlier 16th century, and the construction of a walled garden compartment. One probable pond is relatively well preserved as an earthwork in the paddock to the south-east of the house, as noted by <1> <2>. A second pond has been partly re-cut by the present owners, but in the 19th century it was larger and more rectangular, aligned at right angles to the other one. Three more ponds are poorly preserved as earthworks in the arable field to the north of the house, although fencelines on the tithe map and OS First Edition <4> <5> indicate that they may have survived relatively well as earthworks in the later 19th century. The largest may have been re-cut, since it is shown without water on the Tithe Map of 1838 and with on the OS First Edition of 1877. Two rectangular ponds to the south and east of the church, which appear to be part of the overall arrangement have been maintained and still hold water. The ponds may be contemporary in origin with a 'homestead' moat around the house, since they connect with its north-western arm, but it seems more likely that they are later, possibly of earlier 16th Century date. For further detail, see report at Level 1. <6> In late December 1998, RCHME carried out a Level 3 survey of the complex, during which further ponds were identified, bringing the number to eleven. These are numbered sequentially according to the order of the grid references above. Ponds 1 and 2 lie in the paddock to the south-west of the walled garden; ponds 3, 4, 5 and 6 form a moat-like arrangement around the church, and ponds 7, 8, 9 and 10 form another moat-like arrangement to the north-east of the walled garden. Pond 11 seems to have defined one side of another compartment to the north-west of the house. Their basic forms are as follows: 1) TL 7318 2287. Rectangular depression 54m north-west by south-east x 27m wide, embanked on three sides at its south-east end. The pond was partially infilled in about the 1980s, and now survives to a maximum depth of 0.5m. It was first depicted on Chapman and Andre's map of 1777 and held water until the middle of the 20th century <7>. A smaller modern pond cuts into the embankment on the south-west. 2) TL 7323 2291. Rectangular depression 50m south-west by north-east x 10m-12m wide, embanked on the south-east. The pond is probably the one identified by <1> <2>, since it is relatively well preserved and survives to a depth of 0.4m. The pond extends at right angles to the south-western side of the walled garden and may therefore be of similar date. 3 and 4) TL 7326 2286 and TL 7328 2284. Possibly originally a single rectangular pond aligned north-west to south-east with approximate dimensions of 60m long by 10m wide. Both ponds have evidently been cleaned and recut, and still hold water. 5) TL 7333 2286. A rectangular pond aligned south-west by north-east 75m long by 18m wide. It has evidently been recut and still holds water. 6) TL 7332 2294. A sub-rectangular depression, poorly preserved as an earthwork, whose original dimensions are uncertain, distorted by the cutting of the ditch which forms the churchyard boundary. Aligned approximately north-west by south-east. 7) TL 7330 2295. A boomerang shaped pond, with an overall length of approximately 40m and width of 10m. The northern end lies in a ploughed field and has consequently been reduced to a very slight depression. The central section is better preserved and is up to 0.3m deep. The southern end is confused with the earthwork along the boundary of the churchyard but it may originally have continued under the eastern corner of the garden wall, which has subsided severely at this point. 8 and 9) TL 7331 2300 and TL 7327 2303. Perhaps at some stage a single pond, both lie in the ploughed field and are consequently poorly preserved as earthworks. Both are aligned north-west by south-east. Pond 8 is rectangular, 16m x 14m and up to 0.2m deep, and is separated by about 12m from pond 9 which is rectangular, 58m x 9m and up to 0.2m deep. A continuous broad low embankment extends along the south-west sides of both ponds. 10) TL 7323 2301. A rectangular depression aligned north-west by south-east, 22m x 11m and up to 0.2m deep. 11) TL 7318 2303. A rectangular pond which is visible on aerial photographs of 1952 but was infilled shortly afterwards; nothing now survives on the surface. The ponds would all seem to be broadly contemporary with the use of the manor, although two or three phases of construction may be present. They may have served as fishponds, but an ornamental function also seems likely. For further information, see RCHME report at Level 3 and plan at 1:1000 scale, held in Archive. <8> See also: <9> <10>