Selected projects
4.19.29 South Elmham Hall Farm
This small Suffolk farm lies within the Waveney Valley on the northern boundary
of the county. The historic landscape survey brought together a considerable
amount of research that had already been undertaken, and supplemented it with
further field work and archive research. The sixteenth-century hall, once
a palace belonging to the Bishops of Norwich, stands within a large moated
site, surrounded by parkland with ancient pollards. This was the summer retreat
for the bishops and was especially favoured by the warlike Bishop Henry Despencer.
South Elmham Hall Farm: threshing barn
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In the garden of the hall, remains of one of two gatehouses can be seen. Adjacent
to the hall are the remains of the medieval fish ponds, which were once linked
to the moat. To the south is the scheduled Saxon Minster, surrounded by a rampart
or fosse. Also on the farm are three deserted farmsteads, two of which appear
to have been moated. Park Barn lies to the south of the farm and comprises nineteenth-century
brick barns and cattle yards. It takes its name from the medieval park that
once extended well to the south of the minster towards the parish of South Elmham
St James. Ancient hornbeam and field maple pollards still survive along the
course of the beck in front of the minster. A further deserted farmstead site
lies to the north-east on the edge of Greshaw Common. The earthworks comprise
the foundations of a barn and several buildings, plus the possible remains of
a moat. Bullace and apple trees survive in the adjacent field boundaries, suggesting
a domestic site. The boundary of the common can also be traced on the ground.
The site lies under permanent pasture and includes an area of common that has
not been ploughed since 1921 (during the ownership of the present family). The
rest of the Greshaw Common is now enclosed and under arable.
The archaeological survey of South Elmham Hall revealed a gently undulating
landscape with productive soils that have been farmed for many centuries.
Landscape changes taking place reflected the changes in farming technology,
such as field rationalisation and a decline in the number of small cottages
and farmsteads. It has been suggested that the nine field systems of the South
Elmham parishes have a prehistoric origin. They have a distinctive north-west
to south-east orientation aligned at right angles to the Waveney valley. A
study of the existing field boundaries on the farm revealed that those bounding
a green lane leading from the farm to Greshaw Common contained several species
indicative of an ancient origin. Several others comprised lynchets (up to
a metre high and two metres wide) supporting hedges.
South Elmham Farm: south-east facing elevation of
chapel of gatehouse
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A detailed field-walking project undertaken by a local archaeologist has revealed
Roman, Saxon, and later medieval settlement in the vicinity of the Hall. After
the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Hall and its grounds gradually declined
in status to that of a capital messuage and farm of the manor of South Elmham,
with much of the medieval material being demolished or reused in the new structures.
South Elmham Hall Farm has remained the demesne or capital farm of South Elmham
manor through the ownership of subsequent yeoman tenants. The results of the
landscape survey are to be included in a revised leaflet that describes a self-guided
walk around the farm. Several of the hedgerows are being restored and the meadows
along the beck are being managed under a traditional grazing regime as part
of a Countryside Stewardship Scheme.