Bonhunt, St Helen's Chapel
Bonhunt chapel and associated manorial complex from the north, c.1086 Illustration: Daniel Secker
Bonhunt, just outside Newport in north-western Essex is now an isolated farm, but in the middle Saxon period was an extensive, high-status enclosed settlement. Its demise was no doubt due to the establishment of Newport in the late Saxon period. By the time of the Domesday Survey, the population consisted of a mere four households of smallholders (Williams and Martin 2002, 1040). Excavations have shown that at this time there were four settlement plots on the site, but that shortly after this there was a total re-organisation when an aisled hall was constructed within boundary ditches (Wade 1980). The hall is shown in the top right-hand corner of the illustration. The area to the east of the hall, to the left in the illustration, was not excavated. There were possibly outbuildings here.
It is usually though St Helen's chapel was built c. 1100. Superficially, the early Romanesque details of the chapel would suggest this, but there are some interesting peculiarities. Firstly, the chapel is slightly out of alignment with the Norman hall, but on the same orientation as the sites of the more easterly buildings of the middle Saxon settlement. Secondly, while the upper part of the nave is of flint rubble, the lower parts show evidence of an earlier phase characterised by the use of large boulders. Thirdly, the chapel is on the site of an extensive middle Saxon cemetery (Jones 1980). It is therefore possible the early Romanesque chapel incorporates the remains of a Saxon church associated with the early settlement.
The chapel now has a thatched roof; it probably always did.
References
Jones, M. U. 1980, 'Early Saxon Cemeteries in Essex', in Buckley, D. G. (ed), Archaeology in Essex to 1500 AD. CBA Research Report 34. York: Council for British Archaeology
Wade, K. 1980, 'A settlement site at Bonhunt Farm, Wicken Bonhunt, Essex', in Buckley, D. G. (ed), Archaeology in Essex to 1500 AD. CBA Research Report 34. York: Council for British Archaeology
Williams, A. and Martin, G. H. 2002, Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin
Bonhunt, just outside Newport in north-western Essex is now an isolated farm, but in the middle Saxon period was an extensive, high-status enclosed settlement. Its demise was no doubt due to the establishment of Newport in the late Saxon period. By the time of the Domesday Survey, the population consisted of a mere four households of smallholders (Williams and Martin 2002, 1040). Excavations have shown that at this time there were four settlement plots on the site, but that shortly after this there was a total re-organisation when an aisled hall was constructed within boundary ditches (Wade 1980). The hall is shown in the top right-hand corner of the illustration. The area to the east of the hall, to the left in the illustration, was not excavated. There were possibly outbuildings here.
It is usually though St Helen's chapel was built c. 1100. Superficially, the early Romanesque details of the chapel would suggest this, but there are some interesting peculiarities. Firstly, the chapel is slightly out of alignment with the Norman hall, but on the same orientation as the sites of the more easterly buildings of the middle Saxon settlement. Secondly, while the upper part of the nave is of flint rubble, the lower parts show evidence of an earlier phase characterised by the use of large boulders. Thirdly, the chapel is on the site of an extensive middle Saxon cemetery (Jones 1980). It is therefore possible the early Romanesque chapel incorporates the remains of a Saxon church associated with the early settlement.
The chapel now has a thatched roof; it probably always did.
References
Jones, M. U. 1980, 'Early Saxon Cemeteries in Essex', in Buckley, D. G. (ed), Archaeology in Essex to 1500 AD. CBA Research Report 34. York: Council for British Archaeology
Wade, K. 1980, 'A settlement site at Bonhunt Farm, Wicken Bonhunt, Essex', in Buckley, D. G. (ed), Archaeology in Essex to 1500 AD. CBA Research Report 34. York: Council for British Archaeology
Williams, A. and Martin, G. H. 2002, Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin