Farmstead record BKY 025 - Brockley Hall

Brockley Hall is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular E-plan with the farmhouse detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a private track in an isolated location. This farmstead survives intact with additional modern sheds on the side. (S1-4)

14th C timber-framed manor house located within a scheduled moat, which contains high quality carpentry. The house has an aisled hall as well as two cross wings. In the 17th C a wing was constructed on the site of the former service range, re-using timbers from this earlier structure (S5).

1167 Peter de Brockley held 1 carucate of the Abbot of St Edmunds.
1253 J. Algar owns.
1342 Sir Alexander de Walsham owns.
1435 T. Foderingay owns.
1534 R. Drury died seised.
1617 Sir E. Cecil owns.
1660 J Gipps owns.
1709 R. Philips owns.
1747 G. Thomas owns.
1820 Rev. C. Brooke owns. (S6)

Gough, W records 1 manor and 2 sub manors. Brockley Hall being the manor. The location of the sub manors, Inghams, and Talmages & Wyford, unknown.

Recorded as part of the Farmsteads in the Suffolk Countryside Project. This is a purely desk-based study and no site visits were undertaken. These records are not intended to be a definitive assessment of these buildings. Dating reflects their presence at a point in time on historic maps and there is potential for earlier origins to buildings and farmsteads. This project highlights a potential need for a more in depth field study of farmstead to gather more specific age data.

Taken from NRHE record:
The Hall, of 17th cent date, lies within an oblong moat (almost square) with the entrance on the N. Close to the NE is a smaller but stronger moat, fed by an adjacent stream; and further to the W of these are the remains of a third moat, the N side straight, and the S forming an arc. Grade 3. (2-3)

Two moats and some probable fish ponds are visible within an area of Md.shrinkage around Brockley Hall(name confirmed). The Hall is as described by authority 2 but not outstanding. It is surrounded by a strong part waterfilled moat cut into a north slope and draining from the NW angle. The moat measures 108.0m E-W by 90.0m N-S with arms averaging 20.0m wide and up to 4.2m deep. The central island has been levelled against the slope with the entrance causeway across the north arm. To the NE, centred TL 8278 5558, lies a further waterfilled moat, said by local residents to be the site of the former rectory. It measures approximately 50.0m square with arms 11.0m wide. An extension of the NW angle for some 50.0m gives access to the water supply. Investigation of the central island was not possible; the former entrance across the west arm has been destroyed. Surrounding these features and extending of the west is an area of old pasture showing signs of Md shrinkage but no positive settlement pattern. A series of water features centred TL 823 555 do not form part of a moat. They are dug irregularly into disturbed sloping ground without trace of a complete moated enclosure and probably represent a series of fishponds following an old field boundary. An additional pond with a spoil mound on the north side lies at TL 8242 5558.

TL 8269 5556. Two moated enclosures and an associated area of medieval settlement. The south-western moated site comprises an island measuring up to 82 metres by 60 metres, enclosed by a moat which averages 14 metres wide and up to 3 metres deep. Brockley Hall, a Grade I Listed, late 13th century house, stands on the southern part of the island. The north-eastern enclosure consists of an island measuring up to 42 metres by 24 metres, surrounded by a moat around 7 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep. The earthwork remains of of the associated settlement form an L-shaped area between the two enclosures. The south-western moat is thought to represent the site of Brockley Hall Manor, created in the late 12th century. The north-eastern enclosure is believed to have been the original site of the rectory, and may be contemporary with the south-western moat and the nearby church. Scheduled.