Possible deserted medieval settlement at Little Bardfield Hall (EHER 1523)

Alleged earthworks of a deserted medieval village at Little Bardfield - now thought to be earth dumping.

Possible DMV. Earthworks and fish ponds to the west of the church. <1> NRHE data transfer: May 1975. Field survey. On the immediate E site of the church is the former estate limits of Little Bardfield Hall. Here there is much dumped earth which cannot be confused with Medieval settlement and further afield level ploughland shows no trace of Medieval occupation. <2> Little Bardfield is a good candidate for an isolated manorial site, the main clue being the small church (EHER 38200) adjacent to the hall (EHER 38198). This was heavily reworked in the 14th and 15th centuries, although much of the fabric can be dated to the late Anglo-Saxon period. Nothing is known of the original medieval hall. The evidence for a deserted medieval settlement is poor. The setting of the hall has evidently developed in parallel with the hall itself, and contains elements from the formal garden style of the late 18th century and picturesque formalised naturalism of the early 19th century. The landscape may overlie earlier remains or, as in the case of the artificial water course in the western part of the grouns, utilise earlier features such as fishponds, but the identification of such remains is inconclusive. <3>