Enfield Manor House (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Enefeld

In the civil parish of Enfield.
In the historic county of London and Middlesex.
Modern Authority of London Borough of Enfield.
1974 county of Greater London.
Medieval County of Middlesex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ33399636
Latitude 51.65041° Longitude -0.07334°

Enfield Manor House has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The moat, at Oldbury, enclosed a rectangular area of about 160 yards long, 30 yards wide and 2 yards deep. The other 3 arms, still visible in 1902, were about 130 yards by only 12 yards wide. In the northwest corner of the enclosed area there was a small mound which could have marked the site of either a wood or masonry tower protecting the entrance or a mill. A coin of Edward I (1272-1307) was dug up in 1872. In 1347 Humphrey de Bohum received a licence to fortify his Manor House at Enfield. As this is the closest moated site to Enfield Town (as far as is known) it is suggested that it may mark the original site of the Manor House of Enfield. No substantial stonework has been found, so perhaps the fortification was never carried out. (Jones) There is no trace of a moat. The site has been entirely re-developed. An Enclosure map of 1803 shows the moat to be complete and water filled (F1 JRL 06-NOV-75). (PastScape)

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

Comments

An alternative 'traditional' site Camelot (aka Camlet) moat at TQ28809818 has been dismissed as a homestead moat. There were several manors in Enfield parish. The suggestion that 'fortification was never carried out' is one based on misconceptions as to the nature of licences to crenellate, which were NOT permissions to fortify houses but, as usually stated in the patent letter, as freedom to put crenellations on houses. Many such houses were mainly of timber.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 405537.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 080678/00/00; MLO20696 (Camlet Moat).

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 439
  Baker, T.F.T. (ed), 1976, 'Enfield: Manors' VCH Middlesex Vol. 5 p. 224-9 online transcription
  Whitaker, C.W., 1911, An illustrated historical, statistical and topographical account of the Urban District of Enfield p. 35, 174
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 415 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Jones, I.K., 1976, Enfield Archaeological Society Bulletin Vol. 61 p. 4-5
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. 450 online copy

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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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