Apechilde (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Abchilde; parc de Abchildeswode; Absol Park; Absolpark; Udecheshale; Chignal Smealy

In the civil parish of Great Waltham.
In the historic county of Essex.
Modern Authority of Essex.
1974 county of Essex.
Medieval County of Essex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL66441940
Latitude 51.84847° Longitude 0.41515°

Apechilde has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex obtained a licence to crenellate his manor in the park of Apechilde on 1st December 1347. On 22nd of December the same year he was granted a licence to crenellate 10 named manors including Apechilde (the others being Writele, Brymshoo, Depeden, Walden, Enefeld, Wrockeseye, Uphavene, Sende and Whitenhurst). This site is probably that of the well defined largish square moat to the east of the C17 house now called Absol Park.

A medieval moated site located immediately east of Absolpark Farm. The moated island measures a maximum of 40 metres by 42 metres. The waterfilled moat measures up to 18 metres wide and at least 4 metres deep. Its outer face has been revetted. An extension to the north-east corner of the moat may have been used as a watering place for cattle. The moat is marked on the 1816 map of Great Waltham parish and the 1846 plan of Absolpark. Absolpark Farm, a 17th century building, stands to the south west of the moat and is Listed Grade II. It is believed to have replaced an earlier house on the moated island. Scheduled (not house or moat). (PastScape ref. scheduling notice)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1347 Dec 1 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).
A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1347 Dec 22.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1017004, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 33263
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 375896.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 887.

Books
- RCHME, 1921, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex Vol. 2 (central and south-west) p. 107 no. 7 online transcription
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 415 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1903, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1345-48) Vol. 7 p. 440, 450 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 2001, Scheduling record : Moated site immediately east of Absolpark

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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