Blackford Hall (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Blakworth; Blakeworth; Blackworth; Blackforth

In the civil parish of Stoke Holy Cross.
In the historic county of Norfolk.
Modern Authority of Norfolk.
1974 county of Norfolk.
Medieval County of Norfolk.

OS Map Grid Reference: TG25160174
Latitude 52.56707° Longitude 1.32052°

Blackford Hall has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are uncertain remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Blackford Hall was called Blackworth in the 14th century, when a licence to crenellate was granted. In the 17th century the site, which is moated, was owned by the D'Oyley family. Although the current house is an 18th century house of two storeys, the part of interest is the east-to-west building, which is thought to be a chapel surviving from a medieval mansion on this site. The chapel is thought to date to around 1300 and the east window has intersected tracery. It was converted to a house in the 16th century and partially rebuilt in 1703, and in the south side is a reset Normal roll-moulded arch with zigzag decoration. To the south is a large timber-framed barn with arch-braced tie beams dating to the 17th century or earlier. In the central courtyard a 16th century gold reliquary ring, apparently property of Edmund Billingford who died 1558, was recovered. (Norfolk HER)

Site of a former mansion situated inside a moat. The house to the South of the moat is in all probability a chapel. Close to the house, fragments of Norman masonry have been found. Two churches were documented in the parish at Domesday, the remains here probably being those of one of them, abandoned in C12. It probably became a manorial chapel. The house is of many periods built and flint nodules. The old portion has a traceried window in its E gable and two blocked lights in the North side, where a tie bar is dated 1703. The Norman masonry, apparently from several arches has been built into a South porch. (PastScape)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1343 Aug 21 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1050431 , 1050430
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 132687.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 9908.

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) (Shown on map of fortified houses of East Anglia as Destroyed) p. 166
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 313n24 (mention as nothing known)
  Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1962, The Buildings of England: Norfolk: North-West and South (Penguin) p. 91-2
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 308 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 413 online copy
  Blomefield, F., 1806, 'Hundred of Henstede: Stoke' An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk Vol. 5 p. 519-27 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Norfolk Archaeology Vol. 21.2 p. 339
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), 1902, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1343-45) Vol. 6 p. 106 online copy

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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.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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