Monument record COT 010 - Hempnalls Hall; Caldecott

Moat. Square, inhabited, isolated on edge of parish.
Garden works have exposed a cragstone retaining wall on the S side of the moat island (S1).
Originally part of the Domesday vill of Caldecota (Kaldecotes, Caldecoten, Caldencotan). Held in the C14 by the knightly de Hemenhale family from Hempnall, Norfolk, hence the present name. Sir Robert de Hemenhale (d.1402/ 3) married Joan de la Pole and Hempnalls Hall was probably the birthplace of William de la Pole, 4th Earl and 1st Duke of Suffolk in 1396. Manor sold by Sir Robert's widow 1403-4. Later acquired by Sir John Fastolf of Caister Castle (d.1459). Succession of John Paston to Fastolf lands at Cotton Hall and Caldecott disputed (see Paston Letters). Held by Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk 1515-38. Acquired 1560 by Sir John Tyrell of Gipping. Occupied by his daughter, Dame Anne Clere till her death 1576. For subsequent owners and occupiers see (S4).
Traces of mortared flint and brick revetment on S, W and E sides. Crag blocks underpinning revetment on S side near SW corner. Stump of flint and brick walling near SE corner. Brick bridge (?C16 with later upper part) across middle of N side. C16 timber-framed house with brick crow-stepped W gable wall. Stone fireplacess. Foundations of wall extending southward from the S wall of house exposed in the garden (S2). Two C14 tiles - one impressed with a version of the de Hemenhale coat-of-arms, the other inlaid with a wheel design (S3). Two terracotta architectural fragments, very similar to the material from Westhorpe Hall (1520s). Mortar on break surfaces suggests they were used at some stage in a rubble wall (?salvaged material from the demolition of Westhorpe Hall)(S2).