Monument Type(s):

• MANOR HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• COUNTRY HOUSE (16th century to 17th century - 1500 AD to 1699 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument: Part of one of the most substantial high status medieval moated sites in the county, the site of the hall itself, the details of which are particulary well documented for its later (16th-17th century) phases, has been shown to contain well preserved archaeological deposits.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA3385 - 1991 Archaeological porosity test pits at Langley Gatehouse by SSCAS
• ESA3386 - 1993 WB on soakaway installation during renovation of Langley Gatehouse by SCCAS
• ESA5628 - 1992 Excavations in connection with renovation at Langley Gatehouse by SSCAS
• ESA5682 - 1987 Structural survey and excavations at Langley Gatehouse, Shropshire by BUFAU

Description

Langley Hall was still the residence of the lord of the manor in 1672, when it had 16 hearths. By 1717 it was let as a farm house. It was depicted on the Tithe Award map of 1846 to the east of its detached gatehouse (SA 13376), but was subsequently demolished. The gatehouse is still extant. A watercolour of the house dating to 1789 shows a complex building with both stone and timber-framed elements <1><2>

Structural survey and excavation carried out at Langley in 1987 by BUFAU in conjunction with plans to develop the derelict gatehouse [PRN 13376] on the site of Langley Hall. The site of Langley Hall lies approximately 1 mile to the south east of Acton Burnell and lies in the civil parish of Ruckley and Langley. The derelict gatehouse is all that survives of the Langley Hall complex. It stands amongst the barns and sheds of a working farm, a Victorian farmhouse and the earthworks of the moat that once surrounded the complex [PRN 01060]. The structural survey concluded that a mid to late 15th century timber-framed gatehouse or keeper’s lodge was added to a possibly late 13th or 14th century sandstone curtain wall. This basic structure was enlarged in the 16th century and again in 1620 when a stone facade was added to the frontage, a stone arch erected in the entrance way. A small shallow trench was also excavated, Trench C at SJ45015 00215 in the area east of the Gatehouse now occupied by two agricultural buildings. It appeared to reveal a shallow backfilled pit <3>

Archaeological excavation of porosity test pits in the vicinity of the site of Langley Hall and its gatehouse in conjunction with proposals to install soakaways on the site carried out in 1991. A total of 3 trenches were excavated 1 m in length by 0.5 m wide and 0.6 m deep. Pits A and B demonstrate significant archaeological deposits survived possibly relating to the demolished Hall and its associated features at some points as little as 0.1 m below ground level. <4>

Structural survey and photographic survey carried out at Langley in 1992 by CHAU in conjunction with a programme of repairs and development by the Landmark Trust for the derelict gatehouse on the site of Langley Hall. Despite its apparent complexity, the surviving gatehouse is a composite building consisting of 2 storeys with 2 attics. The roof is plain gabled with 2 gabled cross-roofs. One octagonal chimney rises just off centre of the ridge towards the middle of the building and a 2 paired star-sectioned brick chimneys with caps on a projecting stack are located at the north end of the building. <5>

Archaeological excavation carried out by SCCAS in 1992, in conjunction with a programme of repairs and development by the Landmark Trust for the derelict gatehouse on the site of Langley Hall. The excavations demonstrated that features and deposits relating to the occupation of the site from the early medieval period onwards did survive, despite more recent quarrying and landscaping of the site. They included foundation remains of part of the hall building, together with associated occupation deposits within the area of its courtyard. The northern limit of the medieval courtyard was marked by the foundations of the curtain wall, the western stretch of which survives incorporated within the gatehouse. Beyond the northern curtain wall a moat could be traced. <6>

Archaeological watching brief carried out by SCCAS in 1993, in conjunction with a programme of repairs and development by the Landmark Trust for the derelict gatehouse on the site of Langley Hall. The only significant deposits identified were two yard surfaces outside the east face of the north cell of the gatehouse. Both of them had been noted and recorded during earlier SCCAS monitoring of the site. <7>

In December 1996 the Scheduling of the County Monument number 334, formerly known as "Earthworks at Langley Hall" was revised. It was amalgamated with Langley Chapel [PRN 00292] and also now explicitly included the site of Langley Hall. Relevant parts of Scheduling Description:->

-> The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of the late medieval to early post medieval moated site of Langley Hall, and its associated fishponds and water mill sites. The monument also includes the standing remains of Langley Chapel which are contained within a second area. The monument is situated in a south west-north east valley, on the north bank of a tributary stream of the Coundmoor Brook, which joins the River Severn some 7km to the NNE. ->

-> The site of the now demolished hall occupies a roughly square platform which was originally surrounded by water on all sides .. [see PRN 01060] .. The hall's detached gatehouse [PRN 13376], which is Listed Grade II*, stands to the south west of the site of the hall. It is in use and is not included in the scheduling .. ->

-> The manor of Langley is mentioned in Domesday, when it was under the overlordship of Roger of Shrewsbury. In 1212 it was owned by William Burnell, a member of the family which gave its name to Acton Burnell, whose moated 'castle' is situated in the adjacent valley some 2km to the NNW and is the subject of a separate scheduling [SM27531] .. In 1377 Langley manor passed by marriage to the Lee family .. And in 1591 Humphrey Lee made Langley Hall his main seat. A 1789 watercolour of the hall depicts an L-shaped building, including a timber framed hall with a porch on its north face, and a two-storey timber-framed cross wing at its west end. A stone-built wing at the east end of the main hall had mullioned and transomed windows, and was probably added in the late 16th century. A stone bay window was added in the angle of this wing and the main hall. A low timber-framed range to the west of the hall had a tall Tudor chimney. As well as alterations to the hall, the chapel was re-roofed in 1601. The Smythe family obtained the manor by marriage after the Civil War, and the hall was still the residence of the Lord of the Manor in 1672, when it had 16 hearths. At the end of the century the Smythe family moved to Acton Burnell, and by 1717 Langley Hall was let as a farmhouse. The tithe map of 1846 depicts the hall standing to the east of its detached gatehouse, and it was still standing in 1868, but was probably demolished soon after this date when the present farmhouse was built. … The estate remains in the ownership of the Smythe family .. The gatehouse stands in the southern half of the platform, and elsewhere the remains of the house and its ancillary structures will survive as buried features. ->

-> Excavations carried out in the 1990s revealed that significant archaeological deposits relating to the occupation of the site from the medieval period onwards remain, including foundations and occupation deposits in the area of the hall's courtyard. The foundations of a curtain wall were also revealed along the northern limit of the medieval courtyard, and the western stretch of this is incorporated within the gatehouse. ->

->The 18th century and modern domestic and agricultural buildings of Langley Hall Farm and its gardens and farmyard walls, Langley Hall gatehouse, all fences across the monument, the modern road surface and the modern surfaces of the farmyard, are all excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath all these features is included. <9>

<00> Shropshire County Council SMR, SMR Sheets Collection, SMR Sheet for PRN SA 04504 (Card index). SSA20723.

<01> Gaydon A T (ed), 1968, Victoria County History 8: Condover and Ford Hundreds, p142-144 with plate of 1789 watercolour (Volume). SSA1126.

<02> Anon, 1846, Tithe Award Map for Ruckley and Langley (Map). SSA9407.

<03> Ferris Iain & Sterenberg J, 1988, Langley Gatehouse: a structural survey ... with a note on the archaeological excavations (Archaeological fieldwork report). SSA9402.

<04> Hannaford Hugh R, 1991, Archaeological excavation and recording of porosity test holes at Langley Gatehouse (Excavation report). SSA9403.

<05> Hannaford Hugh R, 1992, Archaeological excavations at Langley Gatehouse, Langley (Excavation report). SSA9404.

<06> Morriss Richard K, 1992, Langley Gatehouse, Langley, Shropshire: an interim report (Field survey report). SSA21422.

<07> Hannaford Hugh R, 1993, A watching brief at Langley Gatehouse, Langley, Shropshire
Ruckley, Shropshire (Watching brief report). SSA9405.

<08> Streeten A, 1991, Correspondence, 1991 (Correspondence). SSA9406.

<09> English Heritage, 1997, Scheduling Papers (Revised Scheduling, 23/12/1996) (Scheduled Monument notification). SSA3931.

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.