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Summary

Medieval manorial site, replaced in the 15th century by a larger house in a different position

Monument Types

• MANOR HOUSE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Events

• Watching brief at Manor of the More (Northwood Sports Hall), Rickmansworth, 1996 (Ref: No 173)
• Evaluation at Northwood Preparatory School, Moor Farm, 1991
• Evaluation at Northwood Preparatory School (Manor of the More), Northwood, 2012

Protected Status

• Scheduled Ancient Monument 29381: THE MANOR OF THE MORE
• Area of Archaeological Significance 15

Full description

A major manorial site partly excavated in the 1950s <1, 4>; for the moats, see [826]. The manor belonged to St Albans Abbey; the estate may have been given to the abbey at its foundation in 793, but is not recorded by name until 1182, when the Abbot gave it to Adam Aignel in exchange for land in Bucks. The double moated enclosure belonged to the initial period of occupation found by <1> (c.1250-1300), followed by a kitchen building with three ovens (c.1300-1350). Traces of a house associated with these earlier periods have not been located. After the collapse of the kitchen a typical 14th century manor house was built (c.1350-1426); this was replaced after 1426 by a much grander building [10919].
Investigation by Time Team in 2012 found traces of stone plinths for two timber-framed buildings, without clear dating but stratigraphically earlier than [10919] <8>. They were assumed to belong to the mid 14th century manor house.

This was 'the first deeply stratified site in north-west London'; its pottery assemblage remains of interest <7>.

Cave-Penny, Helena (HCC) site report, 12.12.85 (Unpublished document). SHT4214.

OS Records (Index). SHT8223.

Scheduled Monument description (Scheduling record). SHT9990.

Braun, Hugh, 1936, The castle of More; Trans St Albans Archit & Archaeol Soc for 1936, 38-41 (Article in serial). SHT8418.

Castle, Stephen, 1971, Archaeological survey of south west Hertfordshire; Watford & SW Herts Archaeol Soc Bull 14 (autumn 1971), 1-11 (Article in serial). SHT9600.

Falvey, Heather, 1992, The More: archbishop George Neville's palace in Rickmansworth, Herts; The Ricardian vol.IX no.118 (Sept 1992), 290-301 (Article in serial). SHT2491.

<1> Biddle, Martin, Barfield, Lawrence, & Millard, Alan, 1959, The excavation of the Manor of the More, Rickmansworth, Herts; Archaeological Journal 116, 136-99 (Article in serial). SHT1655.

<2> Guttmann, Erika, 1996, Manor of the More, Northwood Sports Hall, Rickmansworth; observation and recording, RNO 158 (Report). SHT3109.

<3> Cooper-Reade, Hester, 1991, Northwood Preparatory School, Moor Farm, junior school site; an archaeological evaluation, RNO 166 (Report). SHT4115.

<4> Falvey, Heather, 1993, The More: Rickmansworth's lost palace; Herts Past 34 (spring 1993), 3-16 (Article in serial). SHT4765.

<5> Smith, J T, 1993, Hertfordshire houses: selective inventory, - p148 (Bibliographic reference). SHT16660.

<6> Renn, D F, 1968, Further finds of medieval pottery from Elstree: with a survey of unglazed thumb-pressed jugs; Herts Archaeol 1, 124-7, - p126 (Article in serial). SHT4607.

<7> Irving, Anne, 2011, A research framework for post-Roman ceramic studies in Britain, - p38 (Bibliographic reference). SHT3934.

<8> Thompson, Steve, et al, 2013, The Manor of the More, Northwood, Hertfordshire: archaeological evaluation and assessment of results, RNO 3076 (Report). SHT8011.

Sources and further reading

Related records

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