LANGTOFT
1: LANGTOFT HALL
TF
127130
This
moated enclosure is situated to the east of the present village of Langtoft on
the line of the Car Dyke (Fig 72). Abutting upon the site of Langtoft Hall, it
can probably be identified as the boundary ditch of the curia of the manor of Langtoft. From before the Conquest the whole
of the settlement belonged to the abbey of Crowland (1). The gift of a certain
Fregist, the original hall was probably situated closer to the centre of the
vill, and the present site may reflect the growing importance of the fen and
fen-edge as a resource from the twelfth century. Throughout the High Middle
Ages the manor was a major source of income and produce for the community. Up
to the mid fourteenth century the land was managed directly by the abbey and
was farmed primarily for the market. But from c.1368 the demesne was leased to the villeins as the price of
agricultural produce fell in the aftermath of the Black Death (2).
Nevertheless, the manorial complex was not abandoned, and at the Dissolution
reference is made to the houses and buildings within the site (3). The manor
house subsequently passed to the Hyde family and remained the house of the
principal landowner in the vill into the eighteenth century when 'the material
of parts of the Hall were sold off in rooms', and the present farm house, still
known as Langtoft Hall, was built on the site (4).
The surviving length of moat is only a
fragment of what was visible on the site when the 1930s 6" Ordnance Survey
map was drawn up (Fig 73). The L-shaped moat was then much longer in both
directions; it is now (1988) under plough. The site of Langtoft Hall is marked
south of the present house. Building foundations can be seen in that position
in the 1947 aerial photograph (5), but there are other apparent foundations
within the moated area. Although the moat belongs to an earlier house, this is another
instance where there has been post-medieval garden activity. Physical remains
of garden structures (unsurveyed) can still be seen in the paddock on the east
side of the hall. They appear to be of different dates but all relatively
recent. From the north-east corner extend two lengths of high red brick wall
typical of a nineteenth century kitchen garden. South of the present house is
an older brick wall with stone arcading; this may be part of a previous house
or garden. Facing this, along half of the east side of the paddock, lie
collapsed wall stones with the bases of two stone gate piers still standing.
The ground drops slightly east of this wall towards the moat, and the aerial
photograph referred to shows a track leading eastwards. A similar pair of
truncated gate piers constructed of re-used stone can be seen on the main A15
road 700 metres to the west, from where there was also a driveway to the hall.
Other earthworks of possible walls can be seen in the field west of the hall
site, around the rectangular pond. The dovecote was still standing in 1947, and
it is likely that there were formerly more extensive farm buildings in this
area. The course of the Roman Car Dyke, which coincides with the east end of
the garden, is most clearly visible south of the Fen Road but does continue
north towards another earthwork, Langtoft 2. It may be that the Car Dyke was
initially deliberately incorporated into the moat at Langtoft Hall,but that
later alterations resulted in a slight re-alignment, as the hollow now seems to
be in a position over the east bank rather than over the channel. The
relationship of the two creates additional archaeological interest.
1. S. Raban, The Estates of Thorney and Crowland, Cambridge 1977, 13; Lincs DB, 11/3.
2. Platts, 111-17, 172.
3. Religious
Houses ii, 149.
4. Marrat iii, 23-4.
5. RAF, CPE UK 1932 2107