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| Monument Name |
Maldon - Moot Hall |
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| SMR Number |
7720 |
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| Summary |
Three-storied structure with red-brick walls and lead-covered roofs. |
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| Description |
Three-storied structure with red-brick walls and lead-covered roofs. Built in C15, has a semi-octagonal stair-turret at the NE angle and small annexe at the NW angle. Much altered and most of the existing windows were inserted late in C19. Unusual building in that it originally included a defensive tower. No ancient features in the south front, the west front has an original cruciform loop, now blocked. Above the annexe is a bell-turret with five modern bells. Within, original moulded timbers survive in the main room on the ground floor and in the room in the annexe which also has an original doorway with a four-centred head. Under this room is a vaulted cellar. The second storey, now a police court, has a window of old bricks and a blocked loop. RCHM has photo of the building. <1> Originally a plain brick tower of c1435 with higher stair-turret to the rear. Original ceiling-beams survive on the ground floor. <2> In late C15 the D'Arcy family acquired a large area of High Street frontage between All Saints and St Peter's churches for a grand town house. The SE corner tower alone remains. Later it was taken over by the corporation as a new Moot Hall. The rest of the site was recolonised in C16. <3> Said to have been given to the town by Robert D'Arcy, Henry V's escheator for Essex (sometimes the building is known as the D'Arcy tower). Unusual, as it may have been built as a defensive tower. <4> Late medieval brick building. Regular English bond suggests not much pre-1500 in date. Rectangular unbuttressed tower, smaller tower at NW corner, polygonal stair-turret at NE with inset brick hand-rail (as at Tattershall), original windows in brick (not stone dressed) on N face, cruciform loop on west (street) face, parapet altered in C18. Both towers are three storied, cellar below smaller, remains of three garderobes at junction of towers. Some rooms have embattled wooden cornice. <6> Other ref: <7>
D'Arcy House on the High Street was built for Sir Robert D'Arcy (1358-1448). The original D'Arcy mansion was a timber-framed building standing in approximately the area of Nos. 43-47 High Street. Refurbishment of 43-47 entailed the excavation of a stanchion pit which by chance had been driven straight down a barrel-lined well, dated to the late 13th and late 14th centuries, and this feature would have been within or just behind the original D'Arcy townhouse. At the beginning of the 15th century a new brick-faced residence was built for Sir Robert D'Arcy. Evidence in the form of blocked doorways and straight joints in the brickwork suggest that a two-storey 1st-floor hall structure was first intended, squeezed into an already developed urban frontage. This probably had a hall at right-angles to the frontage and an octagonal stair tower. In a second phase of building an elaborate spiral stair was inserted into the tower, and the building, including the tower, was raised in height. It is probable that the brick stair at least was the work of foreign brickmakers, as it is identical to examples at Someries Castle (Bedfordshire) and Faulkbourne Hall (Essex). <8>
Site Assessment = Unusual, as partly built as a defensive tower. <1> <4> Restored 1986-87. Corner rebuilt - necessary because three chimney flues present and outer wall of tower in this area only half a brick thick and cracked as a result. <5>
Photo: moot Hall one external<9> |
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| Monument Type(s) |
MOOT (Dated 1066AD to 1539AD)
GREAT HOUSE (Dated 1066AD to 1539AD)
CELLAR (Dated 1066AD to 1539AD)
TOWER (Dated 1066AD to 1539AD)
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| Monument Class(es) |
BRICK
EXTANT BUILDING
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Period
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1066AD to 1539AD Medieval
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| Status |
Listed Building (EH) |
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| Administration Area |
MALDON, MALDON, ESSEX |
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National Grid Reference
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Square: TL80NW
Ref: 849070 |
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| Finds |
None listed
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| Events |
Field visit to 7720 by Paterson, H, FMW on OCT-198
Field visit to 7720 by Chant, K, FMW on JUN-1983
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Sources
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Mention : TL80NW10 (unknown)
Photograph : Moot Hall, Maldon (unknown)
Desc Text : An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex (RCHME) Vol 2, p174 Dated : 1921
Desc Text : The Buildings of England, Essex (Pevsner, N) p265 Dated : 1954
Desc Text : SMR Form (unknown) Dated : 1960s to
Desc Text : Historic Towns in Essex: An Archaeological Survey (Eddy, MR with Petchey, MR) p66 Dated : 1983
Scheduling record : DOE Scheduled Ancient Monuments (Department of the Environment) Part 4 Dated : 1985
Desc Text : Revised List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Maldon (Department of National Heritage) p23 Dated : 1996
Desc Text : Maldon Historic Town Assessment Report (Medlycott, Maria) Dated : 1999
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