Monument record WTP 002 - Westhorpe Hall

Moat. Occupied, isolated, square and polygonal complex. Known as Westhorpe Hall.
Westhorpe Hall was the home of Charles, Duke of Brandon and his wife, Mary, sister of Henry VIII. The mansion was pulled down in the mid C18. Above the doorway to the present house can be seen the arms of the Duke of Brandon carved in stone, photograph in Basil Brown archive (S1). 1987: Trial excavation by Simon Thurley to establish accuracy of C16 survey of the house and statement that extensive use of terracotta decorations were used and to evaluate the possibility of further excavations in 1988. Details in (S2)(S3).
1989/1990: Part of original hall destroyed by extension - no notification of planning application given by District Council and no archaeological record made (S4).
November 1990: Footings in moat side exposed by moat dredging operations. A substantial stone & flint rubble corner revettment in the NE corner was cleaned. It sat on an elm plank raft. Bridge abuttment in red brick also planned opposite the S end of the existing building & spanning the E arm of the moat. The moat silt contained only late C19 rubbish.
November 1991: Cleaning of N arm and NW corner to bridge exposed a series of buttresses and projecting annexes built into the moat and previously water covered. Large quantities of brick rubble from fallen walls together with a number of terracotta architectural fragments were found in the mud and largely left in situ. The walls are recorded. For rapid analysis of 187 pieces of terracotta see (S7).
1995: Condition for archaeological works related to extension on site not conformed with, recording therefore inadequate and much information lost. The footing trenches for an extension to the existing buildings of Westhorpe Hall were excavated through stratified deposits of archaeological interest. The eastern side of the footing trench was recorded as a drawn section and the location of a north-north-west to south-south-east wall, truncated by the footing trench, was recorded. No dating evidence was recovered for the truncated wall although it post-dated stratified layers which included rooftile in their fill. If this wall related to the Tudor phase of the hall then the presence of rooftile in the underlying deposits suggests that an earlier, medieval, building with a tiled roof, may have existed on the site.
Details in (S5).
January 1996: Recommended for scheduling (S6).
July 1999: Scheduled - details in (S8).
For discussion of terracotta & general history see (S9)(S10)(S11,S12).
One of the five key sites for the early use of terracotta in England in the 1520s/30s (also Brandon Place, Southwark; Hampton Court; Layer Marney Hall, Essex; & Sutton Place, Surrey) (SALON 144, July 2006).