Scheduled Ancient Monument: MOATED SITE AT LETHERINGHAM HALL (21300)

The monument includes a sub-rectangular moated site located on the east side of the River Deben, adjacent to Letheringham Mill and close to the site of Letheringham church which lay to the north and was demolished in the late 17th century. The water-filled moat, which surrounds a central island raised 0.5m to 1m above the general ground level, is approximately 2.5m in depth and varies between 7m and 15m in width, with overall maximum dimensions of 75m northeast/ south-west by 70m north-west/south-east. A short channel, at one time approximately 3m wide but now partly narrowed, leads from the river into the north end of the south-western arm. The south-eastern arm of the moat is crossed by a causeway which is faced with brickwork dated in part to the 15th or 16th century. The south-eastern face of the island to either side of the causeway is revetted variously with flint and mortar, ashlar and brick, and the section of this revetment to the south of the causeway includes the projecting bases of two buttresses or turrets. Fragments of revetting survive also on the south-western face and at the northern end of the north-west side. The causeway and the revetment and associated structures to the south of it, which together are listed Grade II, are included in the scheduling, as are all of the surviving revetment and the north wall of an outbuilding to the rear of the house, on the inner edge of the north western arm of the moat, which incorporates sandstone blocks. These structures remain as visible evidence of the important mansion which occupied the site during the 15th and 16th centuries and which was the seat of the Wingfield family, including Sir Anthony Wingfield, Vice-Chamberlain to Henry VIII and Comptroller of the Household to Edward VI. The manor was held after the Norman Conquest by Geoffrey de Mandeville, by the de Glanville family and then the de Boviles from whom it passed to the Wingfields, following the marriage of Margery de Bovile to Sir Thomas Wingfield in the mid-14th century. The house which now stands on the island has been dated to the 17th century and is not known to include any part of the earlier Hall. It is listed Grade II and is excluded from the scheduling, as are the associated outbuildings, yard, the driveway and all service pipes and inspection chambers, but the ground beneath all these buildings and features is included.