Medieval moat at Cornish Hall, Finchingfield (EHER 1464)

A partly obliterated moat associated with the manorial house.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Moat, manorial. Site of Old Norton. <1> A partly obliterated moat lies at Cornish Hall. <2> Part of south arm, most of west, and north arms and north-east angle survive. Fair condition, slopes fairly steep, 3ft deep. <3> MSRG card says other rather than manorial status. Water supply surface, but spring for pond. Single, incomplete, rectangular. Moat is 5m+ wide, uncertain depth of 1m+. Remains only part of the south side, also acted as a pond and isn't representative. Dry hollow in north-east corner partly filled, gives little information. No enclosure banks. One, large fish pond. <4> Plan on back of MSRG card. <5> Is Norton 1235, Nortonhalle 1378, North Hall alias Corners Hall 1395, Cornett, vulgarly Cornish Hall 1768. In extreme north of parish, hence name. Later re-named from the family of Richard de 'Cornerde' of Cornard (1303). Other mentions numerous. <6> Cornish Hall, farmhouse and moat, about 1 3/4 miles north of the church. The moat has been partly obliterated. RCHM 4. <7> Site is situated on a south-west facing slope. The moat is an irregular rectangle in shape, measuring 60m maximum east-west by 70m north-south. The western part of the moat survives as an earthwork with arms 6m wide and 1m deep. The west and north arms are seasonably waterfilled and the south arm has been widened to form a cattle pond. The eastern part of the moat has been infilled. A causeway, 4m wide, crosses the west arm to the island, which has been levelled. A 15th century house and some modern outbuildings occupy the island. An irregularly shaped water filled fishpond, 80m north-south by 17m maximum east-west, is situated 6m south of the south-west corner of the moat. <8> Area = 3 See: <9> <10>