Nayland Court Knoll

Description

Situated 150m East of Nayland Bridge on the flood-plain of the River Stour and consisting of a D-shaped earthwork with a mound in the Nort-East corner, has the superficial appearance of a motte and bailey. In this connection its position at an old crossing of the River Stour is perhaps not without significance. The defences, where best preserved, have an unusual profile comprising a low, faint rampart separated from an outer ditch by a berm. Cut into the bottom of the ditch is a further ditch, presumably a modern drainage feature, and part dry when visited. A gap in the North-West corner is possibly an original entrance. The mound, which is very vague but appears to be near-circular on plan, measure approx. 40m. in diameter and reaches a maximum height of 1m There are faint traces of a ditch around the W. side. Kentish Ragstone is visible in the ditch East of the mound. The exact nature of this building is obscure but the presence of Kentish Ragstone suggests an early medieval date. It is therefore, possibly the chapel referred to by Morant and the mound may mark its site. (PastScape)

Excavations in 1924 revealed building foundations believed to be Norman in date and built of flint and Roman tile. Geophysics showed a number of probable building foundations and archaeological features though no obvious plan. Finds from fieldwalking were mostly of high medieval date although a significant quantity of re-used Roman building materials confirmed that this was used in the construction of buildings which once occupied the site. The majority of finds were focussed around an area in the north eastern corner of the monument which is also where the geophysics showed most activity. Documentary evidence suggests that the site was most likely constructed for Swein of Essex sometime around the Norman Conquest and may have gone into decline during the fourteenth century. By the eighteen century, the only building remains visible on the site were the ruins of the chapel. (Suffolk HER ref. Breen 2001)

Leyland - Castle mentioned in 1160 (P.R.O. c.146/10018, see Bulletin of the John Rylands Library XXIV, 168; XXVII, 179) possibly Court Knoll, Nayland, Suffolk (TL 975340). (Renn 1973)

Comments

The masonry remains are of buildings within the earthworks and the presumed timber defences do not seem to have been replaced with stonework. The reported motte seems to be a collapsed masonry building and the site is an embanked enclosure. An investigation of this site, without the blinkering dogma that 'castles' are post-Conquest, would be interesting. The site almost certainly was the site of the Saxon manorial centre with continued use in the Norman period, when masonry buildings were constructed, but the date of the defensive embankment has not been established.
3 May 2016 - Geophysical survey, including GPR, have found the stone building to be a double apsed building which is within a, noe no longer apparent, ditched sub-enclosure in the north east corner. Further investigation is certainly required to understand this site.