Columbine Hall

Description

Trapezoidal moat with an island of 0.8 acres. The moat is widest on the west and north sides; these two sides were wet at the time of visit (September 1990), the other two sides were largely dry. Access is via a causeway on the south side. The existing house lies at the north-west corner of the island. West and north walls of the house rise sheer from the edge of the moat; these are constructed of mortared flint (heavily repaired with brick) upto first floor level, with a jettied, timber-framed, upper storey. Dated as late C14 or circa 1400. In the middle of the west wall there is a large blocked entrance indicating that this range must have functioned, in part at least, as a gatehouse. Access must have been across a wooden bridge, now no longer extant. This suggests that the original frontage of the moat was the broad west side and that the present entrance in the narrow south side may be secondary. There is mortared flint revetting to the moated island along at least half of the north side and there is an isolated fragment of mortared flint walling lying at the bottom of the moat on the east side; elsewhere the edges are too overgrown to ascertain whether revetting is present or not. The house has a C19 brick addition at its east end. The farm buildings lie within a ditched enclosure on the south side. (Suffolk HER)

Although Hall bears Columbers name, family never lived there. Resident undertenants were Hotot (or Hotoft/Houtot) family, possibly from Huttoft, Lincs. Hotots held manor from at least mid-13th century until died out towards end of 15th. Most of family lived relatively obscure lives and only one individual stands out: Robert Hotot, a prominent justice in Suffolk from 1381 until death c.1402; his name figures widely in county affairs in that period; clearly a figure of some importance.
Importance reflected in house he appears to have built. Occupying one corner of moated site is L-shaped building — mortared-flint N. and W. walls (heavily repaired with brick) rising from water of moat, topped with timber-framed first floor, jettied on both sides. S. and E. walls timber-framed and unjettied. Dates from late 14th century; early example of movement of house from centre of moated platform (as seems to be norm in 13th and 14th centuries) to more dramatic siting on edge. Inspiration probably new consciously dramatic castles then being built, e.g. Wingfield Castle built by Earl of Suffolk, 1384. New siting posed constructional problems on soft clay sites, and flint walling on moat frontage a way of providing house with secure foundation. (Martin et al 1993)

almost contemporary with Wingfield Castle, but the upper half of the ranges of this quadrangular moated site were timber-framed and closer in character to the very considerable number of moated manor houses in East Anglia than the region's fortified houses. (Emery 2000)