Site of medieval hall house, Carters Pasture, Farther Howe Green (EHER 8007)

Partially destroyed. The earthwork remains of a house platform were surveyed prior to their destruction by cultivation. During a watching brief for the agricultural work, the foundations of the house were revealed and subsequently excavated to reveal the building was probably a medieval and later hall house, possibly called 'Gales'. The building may have been subject to subsidence and was interpreted as having been underpinned with brick in the late 16th-early 17th century. Two external projections on the east wall of the cross-wing may have been to support jettied storey. Permission was granted to demolish the building in 1670, but it may not have been undertaken until the early 18th century as post-medieval pottery was recovered from the site during the excavation.

Foundations of a house were recorded before ploughing of the pasture. The house appeared to have consisted of a hall and cross-wing. <1> <2> 1984. Watching brief and archaeological excavation. Earthworks in the field were surveyed before destruction (see EHER 8003) and two raised platforms proved to be house sites. 'House site 2' was excavated, revealing it to be medieval in origin. However, most of the surviving remains were post-medieval in date, comprising unmortared brick footings of a house of 'hall with cross-wing' plan, with a narrow outshot on a tile base, north of the cross-wing and the mortared foundation of a central brick chimneystack. The building had a brick plinth, interpreted as the underpinning or rebuilding of an earlier structure in the in late 16th-early 17th century, with a chimney inserted at this time also. The east wall of the cross-wing had spread and two external projections added to it could have been to help support a jettied storey if subsidence were taking place. The rear wall of the narrow outshot had been built on a bed of roof tiles and may be of different date from the rest of the house. Traces of an earth floor were found in the SE corner of the cross-wing. A stoney yard surface lay outside the building to the north and south. It sealed medieval pottery and, above it, were found 17th century Metropolitan-type ware sherds, black glazed ware and Frechen stoneware, also a red-bodied earthenware, Staffordshire type tin-glazed earthenware and Westerwald stoneware; datable to late 17th and early 18th centuries. These sherds will be from vessels in use when the house was abandoned, and may provide an approximate date for the abandonment. A few finds were later in date, and may have been intrusive material, perhaps from manuring. Most (75%) of the post-medieval pottery was red-bodied earthenware. The fabric dates from the 16th-19th centuries but most closely datable sherds can be assigned to the 17th and 18th centuries. Clay pipe finds include three with oval feet of from before 1760 and a complete bowl datable to around 1660-1680. A large amount of broken peg tile was found south of the house. Two disks made from roof tiles were also found and similar finds from Chelmsford have been interpreted as counters or tallies. Documentary research suggests the house is the farmstead of Gales Farm, known in documentary records from the 16th century but clearly medieval in origin. Although the Gales property is not mentioned in Manor Courts until the 16th century, the name is presumably derived from it being owned by the Gale family: a John Gale is mentioned in medieval documents. There is evidence that Gales was repaired after 1592. It is probable that the house was modernised at this time by the installation of a chimney, the insertion of a floor in the hall and glazing of the windows. However, the building seems to have eventually become beyond repair. Permission to demolish was granted in 1670, but the pottery finds raise the possibility that demolition did not take place until later, perhaps even in the early 18th century. <3> NRHE data transfer: no new information.