Details

The monument includes the remains of post-medieval garden features and
enclosures associated with the site of the West Hall in the village of
Threekingham. These features directly overlie a system of medieval enclosures
including traces of ridge and furrow cultivation.

The monument is located in a field immediately to the west of Manor Farm.
The remains take the form of a group of earthworks located around an
artificial mound situated in the north west of the field. The mound is
approximately 2.5m high and 12m in diameter and has a ditch with an external
bank to the east, whilst an area of low-lying boggy ground immediately to the
west is also considered to represent the remains of a ditch on this side. This
mound is interpreted as a prospect mound or `mount', an ornamental garden
feature of post-medieval date designed to overlook the formal gardens around
the West Hall. The ditch is thought to represent the remains of water features
designed to enhance the mound's visual impact.

Abutting the bank to the east of the mound is a roughly rectangular raised and
levelled platform of 0.9ha which extends eastwards for c.125m almost to the
field boundary alongside the road. The eastern edge of the platform is defined
by a ditch which gradually reduces in profile as it follows the sweep of the
curved north eastern corner. The platform is considered to represent the
remains of the main garden enclosure.

To the north of the mound is a second less clearly defined area of raised
ground of approximately 0.5ha which is almost triangular in plan. On its
western side the platform overlies an earlier medieval field system which
survives in the north western corner of the field as ridge and furrow. Running
south from the mound on a north-south axis for a distance of over 135m is a
causeway bank approximately 1m high and 5m in width which is interpreted as a
raised path or walkway associated with the formal gardens. Projecting at right
angles from the eastern side of the causeway are a series of low banks which
form at least one sub-rectangular enclosure. This enclosure is considered to
represent the remains of a smaller, separate garden feature in the nature of a
walled garden or an animal stockade.

A map of 1769 records the name of the field in which the monument is situated
as Mount Close, the term `mount' being widely used in the 18th century in
reference to prospect mounds. The earliest description of the mound as a
beacon appears to date to the end of the 19th century, suggesting that this
was not its original function. An estate map showing the lands of William
Fisher dated to the late 17th or early 18th centuries suggests that the
original West Hall was situated to the west of the present Manor Farm house -
a Listed Building of mid-18th century origins which lies outside the area of
protection.

All fences are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them
is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The creation of gardens has a long history in England, the earliest examples
known being associated with Roman villas. However, a major development in
gardening took place in the late medieval and early post-medieval periods when
the idea of the garden as a `pleasure ground' for both the spirit and the
senses developed. These gardens take a variety of forms. Some involved
substantial water-management works to create elaborate water features, which
could include a series of ponds and even ornamental canal systems. At some
sites flower gardens took the form of elaborately shaped and geometrically
laid out beds. In post-medieval gardens, planting arrangements were often
complemented by urns, statues and other garden furniture. Such sites were
often provided with raised walkways or prospect mounds (`mounts'), which
offered vantage points from which the garden design and layout could be fully
appreciated. The design of post-medieval formal gardens often mirrors elements
of the design of the associated house, particularly following the symmetry of
the buildings. Whilst carefully planned gardens were an important feature of
high status country houses from the 16th century onwards, the continued
occupation of these houses and the re-modelling of their gardens in response
to changing fashions means that early remains rarely survive undisturbed.
Gardens provide a valuable insight into contemporary political and
philosophical ideas as well as into the economic and technological influences
which enabled the landscape to be modified in certain particular ways. From
the late 18th century, `informal' landscape gardens began to replace earlier
formal gardens. In view of their rarity, great variety of form, and importance
for understanding high status houses and their occupants, all surviving
examples of early date will be identified as being nationally important.

The remains of the post-medieval formal gardens and medieval enclosures at
Manor Farm survive particularly well in the form of a series of substantial
earthworks. The site has remained largely under pasture and has never been
excavated with the result that preservation of buried deposits will be good.
In addition the waterlogged nature of the area immediately south of the mound
suggests a high potential for the survival of organic remains. As a result of
the survival of historical documentation relating to the site, the remains are
quite well understood and provide a good opportunity for understanding the
development and adaptation of a medieval landscape in the post-medieval era.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Healey, H, Earthworks at Threekingham, Lincolnshire, (1995)
Moore, J, Plan of William Fisher's Estates
Cragg, W A, 'Lincs. Architectural and Archaeological Soc. Report' in Threekingham Tumuli, , Vol. Vol 3, (1945)
Other
EH SAM/CNSR Long External Report: Threekingham Beacon,
Title: Plan of Stow and Threekingham
Source Date: 1769
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England