130 NOTES.
The Chigwell Moat. This small enclosure, close to the White
Bridge over the river Roding, of which no written record exists, has long
been a subject of conjecture to local antiquaries. Some have thought it to
mark the site of a manor house, others consider it to be but a raised place
of refuge for cattle in time of flooding of the river.
Recently light has been thrown upon the question by the discovery
by our member, Mr. Ernest Linder, of various pottery-fragments, bones
of domestic animals, oyster-shells and a brick drain on the site, these
having been found during excavations in connection with extensive
Government works which have, unfortunately, entirely destroyed both
the enclosure and its moat, which now therefore must remain a memory
only.
The pottery-sherds include medieval ware from the 15th to the 17th
century and a fragment of Delft which has been dated at 1750 A.D., and
these, with the brick drain, indicate that a small domestic building stood
within the moat during medieval times and may have persisted into the
18th century, so lending support to the conjecture, opined by the late
Mr. W. C. Waller, that here stood the earliest manorhouse of the manor
of Chigwell Hall. In this connection the name of the field, Little Hall
Field, in which the enclosure stood, is significant.
The specimens found by Mr. Linder have been placed in the Stratford
Museum.
Percy Thompson.