Monument record MDR2719 - Hulland Old Hall (site of moated enclosure), Lower Hough Park, Hulland

In Wolley's manuscript 'History of Derbyshire', written about 1712, it is stated that there is at Hulland "a piece of ground moated about in Mr Burrows grounds, which was said to be ye scite of a house of Sir Humphrey Bradbourne…". (1) The Old Hall at Hulland is said to have been demolished during the Civil War. The present Hulland Hall [SMR 8407] was built out of the ruins on another, higher, site. (2) The site of Hulland Old Hall is surrounded by a well-defined moat about 150ft by 125ft and there are traces of what would appear to be the foundations of the drawbridge. A little over 200 yards to the east are two large medieval fishponds [SMR 8403]. (3) There are no structural remains within the large moat, but building remains were found in the marshy ditch together with glazed pottery. There are amorphous remains of fishponds immediately east and west of the moat but those published probably date to the 19th century. The earthworks were resurveyed at 1/2500 in 1966. (4) Lower Hough Park is the site of a large rectangular moated site. Large hand-made bricks were found strewn to the north of the moat, possibly indicating the site of a building. The area was recorded as being encroached upon by the ploughing of the parkland. (5) The Hough Park moat, Hulland, is a square moat with two raised platforms on the central platform. To the north of the moat there is soil-mark evidence for a series of structures, and to the east lies a series of large rectangular hollows which were probably fishponds. Ploughing up to the outer lip of the site is destroying important outer works [in 1981]. (6) The moated enclosure was the former seat of the Bradbournes of the Hough. (7) The scheduled monument is situated on the north bank of Hulland Hollow Brook and includes the ditch and central platform of Hulland Old Hall moat and a banked enclosure to the north which contains the site of a chapel and a number of platforms relating to ancillary buildings associated with the moated manor house. A separate scheduled area lies c. 200m to the east and includes a group of four fishponds and other water management features [SMR 8403]. The moat consists of a rectangular platform measuring c. 45m by 50m and raised c. 1m above the level of the surrounding land. The ditch varies between c. 5m and 7m wide and is surrounded by a 1m high outer bank. A channel leads from the south-east corner of the moat to the brook which runs parallel with the southern arm. It is unlikely that the ditch was ever entirely water-filled as the north side lies at least 2m higher than the south. Several factors indicate that it was a particularly wet site and this is likely to have been one reason why the hall was eventually abandoned and rebuilt further up the hill. To the north of the moat is a rectangular enclosure surrounded by a slight bank and measuring c. 60m north to south by c. 150m east to west. To the west of the modern farm track, where the land is ploughed, the enclosure is more readily seen on aerial photographs. In the pasture to the east, however, a number of building platforms can easily be distinguished on the ground within this enclosure. These platforms indicate the positions of ancillary buildings associated with the manor house and will include barns and stables. The manor is also known to have had its own chapel [SMR 8402] and this is believed to have stood within the northern enclosure. The manor, which is sometimes known as Hulland Hough, was first mentioned in 1250. The valley site was occupied until the mid-17th century when it was abandoned in favour of the current Hulland Hall. (8)