Extracts from the web
referring to Rook Hall
Rook Hall and P Adkins set bold
in these extracts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Totham
The
halls of Little Totham and Rook Hall have their origins in the 12th century.
www.churchside1.plus.com/Goldhanger-past/Little%20Totham%20Church%20and%20Hall.htm
The
earliest recorded building in the parish is Little Totham Hall, or more correctly Little Totham Manor as
originally it owned the manorial rights. It was built at some period during the
reign of Edward the Confessor in 1042, towards the end of the Danish rule. During
this period the property was divided into two estates: Little Totham Manor
(the owner was named as Cola) and Rok (or Rook) Hall.
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1111024?section=official-list-entry
6/193
Rook Hall - II Listing NGR:
TL8795708608
House. Early C19 front range, C16 or
earlier rear range. Timber framed and plastered. Red plain tiled roofs, gabled
dormer to rear range. Right and left red brick chimney stacks to front range. Central chimney stack
to rear range. 2 storeys and attics. Front range 2 storeys, 3 window range of small paned vertically
sliding sashes, those to ground floor of 3 lights. Central C20 6 panelled door
with light in moulded surround, moulded pilasters, dentilled
and moulded soffits to pediment. Internal features to rear wing include jowled storey posts, one with arch brace exposed. Very heavy chamfered bridging joist to ground floor. Rook Hall was one of the 2 manors of
Little Totham.
https://eaareports.org.uk/assets/uploads/repository/EAA_Report_82.pdf
Archaeology and the Landscape in the Lower Blackwater Valley - Rook
Hall
The following account
of his extensive finds at Rook Hall
is based on published summaries and comments made by Mr Adkins:
Neolithic Scattered pits and shallow scoops
containing Neolithic pottery and flintwork were
found. One area in particular had a high density of finds and included possible
structures.
Bronze Age Two areas of intense Bronze Age
occupation were identified and were associated with Deverel-
Rimbury pottery. They included circular post-hole
buildings (EAH 16), wells (EAH 16) and a possible kiln (EAH 15; EAH 16). The
wells, or watering holes, numbered at least three and two have radiocarbon and dendrochronology dates of 2980 ± 90 BP, which calibrates to
1440-930 ea! BC; HAR- 6397, and 1096 BC respectively.
A ditched field system (EAH 16) was also thought to date to the Bronze Age and
appeared to be associated with the northern of the two occupation areas.
At least twenty-eight cremations were found
(EAH 15; EAH 17) some of which were inurned and
others contained multiple vessels and these were probably later Bronze Age. One
in particular contained five vessels and a fragment of socketed
axe. A Late Bronze Age metalworking hoard was excavated (EAH 18) and a report
is in preparation by the County Council Archaeology Section on both that and
two similar hoards found by Mr Adkins
at Wickham Bishops.
Iron Age Occupation in the early Iron Age is
attested by several post-hole structures associated with Darmsden-
Linton pottery and at least one well (EAH 16) which has a radiocarbon date of
2550 ± 70 BP, which calibrates to 840-410 ea! BC (HAR-6398). There was little
evidence for occupation in the Late Iron Age but undated fragments of field
ditches may have originated then . A single well
contained Belgic pottery and several undated wells
may also be Late Iron Age.
Roman Evidence for Roman activity was
restricted to a few undated field ditches which may have continued in use from
the Late Iron Age and a trackway (EAH 18) which was
the continuation of a trackway recorded at the
adjacent Slough House Farm (see Wallis, this volume). Saxon The intense Saxon
occupation was both domestic and industrial and included hearths, six sunken
featured buildings and possibly at least one large post built building as well
as huge quantities of metalworking debris concentrated in one area (EAH 17, EAH
18). The latter consisted of slag, cinder, ore and tuyere
fragments largely discarded in pits but there was one feature which may have
had in situ tuyeres and is interpreted as a furnace .
A pottery tuyere
from this feature has been dated by thermo luminescence to AD 530 ± 29.
Quantities of grass-tempered pottery were recovered and included a substantial
part of a whole pot. (A similar furnace was excavated at the nearby Chappell
Farm and returned a Late Roman radiocarbon date.)
www.maldon.gov.uk/publications/.../.../.../Environment
Characterisation Project.pdf
Maldon District Historic
Environment Characterisation Project - 2008
A
concentration of sites to the east of Heybridge,
north of the Blackwater estuary, such as those
identified at Slough House and Lofts Farms, Rook Hall and Chigborough, close to the Blackwater estuary attest to an increasingly settled and
populated landscape. Sites such as these have produced evidence of more permanent
settlement and a managed landscape including enclosures, dwellings and land
division, and a landscape of farms set within a pattern of fields and woods was
created.
The
settlements north of the Blackwater were well placed
to exploit not only the low lying gravel terrace but also the pasture available
on the salt marshes fringing the estuary. Wells are a feature of many of these
settlements and the waterlogged fills of these wells together with charred
plant remains provide detailed evidence from which the contemporary landscape
can be reconstructed.
A
concentration of sites such as Lofts Farm, Chigborough
Hall Farm, Slough House Farm and Rook
Hall to the east of Heybridge have been
excavated, with settlement being shown to begin in the Neolithic period and
lasting, with some shifts of emphasis, through to the Iron Age and beyond.
Although settlement is confirmed for these periods, finds, especially flintwork, of material relating to earlier occupation has
been found throughout the area. Occupation in the prehistoric period comprised
settlements, both enclosed and unenclosed, burial sites and agricultural field
systems. Cropmarks and chance finds indicate possible
Roman sites on the north bank of the Blackwater
estuary with extensive cropmark complexes overlooking
the river. An important middle Saxon iron working site is known from
excavations at Rook Hall and other
Saxon occupation has been identified on several sites overlooking the river.
https://catuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CAT-report-1393.pdf
Archaeological evaluation on land at Chigborough Farm, Chigborough
Road, Little Totham
March 2019
Rook Hall is a Historic England Grade
II listed building (HA 1111024) with a rear range dating to the 16th century
(EHER 38934). Although no cropmarks are present in
the area around Rook Hall,
archaeological monitoring in advance of mineral extraction revealed substantial
remains. Subsequent excavations in two areas revealed multiple periods of
occupation. Within the first area, most of the earlier features date from the
Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age, with some Iron Age and Roman features
including ditched trackways. Evidence of Anglo-Saxon
domestic occupation and artisanal activity included hearths and six
sunken-floored buildings (Grubenhäuser). At least
three cremation burials were recorded and Deverel-Rimbury
ware and Iron Age Darmsden- Linton ware pottery were
recovered. The second excavation area contained a prehistoric causewayed
boundary, substantial Late Iron Age-Roman boundary ditches, enclosures and trackways and Anglo-Saxon sunken-floored buildings (EHER
7916-9).
EAH 14 1982 ‘Little
Totham, Chigborough Farm’
by P Adkins in Essex
Archaeology and History 14, 140
EAH 15 1983
‘Little Totham, Rook
Hall’ by P Adkins in Essex
Archaeology and History 15, 167
EAH 16 1984-5
‘Rook Hall’ by P Atkins, N Brown, P Murphy and D Priddy
in Essex
Archaeology
and History 16, 94-99 ‘Great Totham/Little Totham/Goldhanger, Rook Hall’ by P Adkins in Essex Archaeology and History 16, 131
EAH 17 1986 ‘Goldhanger, not
on loomweights from site 1 Chigborough
Farm’ by S Tyler in Essex Archaeology and History 17, 147-8. Goldhanger, Rook Hall’ by P Adkins
in Essex Archaeology and History 17, 16
https://maldonsx.pastcaring.com/Maeldune/battle_of_maldon_site.htm
BARROW HILLS, GREAT TOTHAM. (TL078877)
In
'The History and Antiquities of The County of Essex' Morant
noted that in 1768 there were in Totham parish, by
the shore, many tumuli or mounds of earth, called Borough Hills, which seemed
to be the graves of Danes or Saxons slain in assaulting and defending the area.
Similarly in 'Maldon and the River Blackwater'
(1898), Fitch noted that some of these tumuli were in Heybridge
parish but the most noticeable were in that part of Great Totham
"that runs down to Blackwater Bay"
Both authors
refer to the shore-line at Mill Beach. A mound was opened in 1773, but no
antiquities were found. Possibly the mounds were soil heaps resulting from the
digging of the mill pond for Heybridge Tide Mill
built during the 18th century. Recent archaeological work at Chigborough Farm, Slough House Farm and Rook Hall have uncovered evidence of an
extensive Saxon metal working or smelting industry. This would have provided a
good dry encampment and site for footsoldiers to
fight on. The valuable metal for swords and armour may well have attracted the
Vikings as plunder. Having landed they may then have been attacked by the
Saxons anxious not to let this valuable commodity fall into the enemies' hands.
https://www.esah1852.org.uk/library/files/T3160000.pdf
The Essex Archaeological Society
Rook Hall, TL 878088 (TL 80/56 and 63)
Pat
Adkins, Nigel Brown, Peter Murphy
and Deborah Priddy
In the area
to the north of the Blackwater estuary extensive cropmark complexes have been recorded. Many are threatened
by mineral extraction, and it is E.C.C Archaeology Section policy to record
them prior to destruction. In the case of Rook Hall no cropmarks
were visible, but an extensive range of features were immediately apparent after
removal of the topsoil. These have been planned and, to the extent that the
quarry programme permits, excavated by Mr
Pat Adkins.
The site has
produced evidence for extensive multi-period occupation. Two features contained
closed groups of middle bronze age and early iron age
pottery respectively. In view of their interest, particularly within the
context of recent and ongoing bronze age excavations,
it was felt that their publication, in advance of a final publication, would be
a useful contribution to our present understanding of the Bronze Age in Essex.
Rook Hall, Great Totham/Little
Totham/Goldhanger,
Pat
Adkins
The pottery
from Rook Hall clearly belongs to
the Early Iron Age. Drury (1980, 52) dates the occurrence of Darmsden-Linton material in Essex to the 5th-century B.C.,
whilst Barrett (1978, 287) dates the pedestal bowls from Orsett
probably to the 5th to 4th-century B.C., or slightly earlier. A similar date
range for the Rook Hall material is
likely. Whether the plain bowls and finger- impressed jar from the bottom of
F661 are significantly earlier than the pottery from the upper fills is
problematic. Neither form would be out of place in late bronze age/early iron age assemblages. The coarse flint temper of the jar is
in marked contrast to the predominantly sand-tempered pottery of the upper
fill.
This is a
large multi-period site with features dating from the Bronze Age onwards.
Threatened by mineral ex- traction, a programme of salvage excavation and
recording has been undertaken.
The earliest
features were a number of shallow scoops containing worked flints. The majority
of features were datable to the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age
. Extensive bronze age domestic occupation is
attested by boundary dit- ches
and trackways, circular post-hole buildings with
hearths, wells and a possible kiln. Urned and un-urned cremations were recorded, the former with Deverel-Rimbury bucket urns.
Iron Age
occupation included one feature with a cobbled surface, a possible rectilinear
building and a four-post structure: all associated with Darmsden-Linton
ware . SITE 3 (TL 882082) Most of the cropmark features sectioned in this area have been datable
to a period between the Late Iron Age and the 2nd to 3rd centuries A.D., with
the usual range of boundary ditches, enclosures and trackways.
One pit con- tained a late iron age jar in its
primary fill, whilst other pits, dug during the Late Iron Age at the corners of
an enclosure, appear to have been for water storage. The latter continued in
use until the 1st century B.C. Sunken featured
buildings were recorded but no dating evidence was forthcoming.
Transformations of Identity and
Society in Essex, c.AD 400-1066, Alexander Mirrington,
July 2013
Goldhanger Creek
Rippon (1997: 130-3) has suggested Goldhanger Creek as an Anglo-Saxon trading place on the
Essex coast. However, the archaeological evidence here is more difficult to
read in this respect. The corpus of stray and unstratified
finds includes just one coin – an imitation Series BIc sceat (PAS: ESS-E24917) – and “Saxon or Danish relics”
found in 1903 (Wallis & Waughman 1998; Essex HER:
12110). In addition to these finds, excavations 317at in the area have found an
early Saxon settlement and cemetery (Essex HER: 7869), a series of middle Saxon
fish weirs (Gilman 1993: 209; Wallis & Waughman
1998; Strachan 1998; Hall & Clarke 2000; Essex HER: 13663; 13815), and
perhaps contemporary settlements at Chigborough Farm,
Rook Hall, and Slough House Farm
(Wallis & Waughman 1998). These settlements may
have functioned together as part of a single estate, with Rook Hall engaged in specialist metalworking for external clients
(ibid.: 227), while the other settlements seem typical of other rural hamlets,
engaged in farming and small-scale and textile manufacture. Slough House Farm
may have been a temporary site, used by pastoral farmers during seasonal
grazing on the coastal marshes (ibid.: 53).
There is
certainly much more evidence in the Goldhanger area
of productive activity datable to the Anglo-Saxon period than in most other
excavated rural areas of Essex. Indeed, specialized industry – as found at Rook Hall – seems to be a
characteristic of coastal societies engaged in trade (Verhulst
2002: 73-83). However, this archaeological record here is not necessarily
indicative of a trading place. One should like to have more finds that are more
directly indicative of exchange – such as coinage or imported pottery – to draw
such a conclusion.
It is
tempting to see the Collins Creek fish traps as related to the group of
settlements in the Goldhanger (Chigborough
Farm and The Stumbles) and Totham (Rook Hall and Slough House Farm) area
(Wallis & Waughman 1998), which may have
functioned together as a part of an estate centred around the Blackwater marshes, and involved in a range of activities
potentially including specialist metalworking, fishing, sheep grazing, and salt
panning. Evidence of settlement and productive activity has been found around Goldhanger from at least the 6th century (Essex HER: 12110;
19578) to the early 10th century (Essex HER: 13663).
See also... a summary of Pat Adkins
work
Return
to... The
Barrow Marshes