VISIT TO MARKENFIELD HALL

 
At the beginning of July 2011 members of our society visited Markenfield Hall, a magnificent and atmospheric mediaeval house completely enclosed by a moat. The hall is the most complete medium-sized fourteenth century country house
left in England and could still be recognised by it's original builders today. The original Great Hall dates from 1280 and was probably free standing, with the rest of the building being completed in 1310 upon a licence to crenellate (fortify) being granted by King Edward II to Canon John de Markenfield.
There is evidence of an outer moat and other defences in addition to the present inner moat there today, only the upper parts of the house would have been visible above the gatehouse and surrounding walls. A park pale originally continued for 2.8 kilometres around Markenfield Hall of which 2.4 kilometres still survives as a stone wall. The main house is an L-shaped structure standing in the north east corner of the site, with the Great Hall extending to the North and the Chapel to the East.

The remainder of the Courtyard walls adjoined what would have been the more modest buildings. These would have structures such as stables and lodgings for retainers, as well as storage areas for a affluent and substantial household. In the early 15th century the kitchen was built at the west end of the north wing of the hall. The walls outwards facing to the moat maintain the refined architectural style of the Great Court highlighting the fact that regardless of its battlements that Markenfield was a fortified manor house, not a castle.
Cannon John de Markenfield was of high standing under the King and his family formed many connections through marriage with the other great ruling houses of the North. The family supported the King at Agincourt, Bosworth and Flodden all the while prospering and increasing the family's status. Their good fortune came to and end with them turning against the crown and Sir Thomas Markenfield being among the Catholic nobles leading the Rising of the North in 1569 with a large contingent setting out from Markenfield Hall itself.

The rising which stemmed from the Dissolution of the Monasteries 30 years earlier aimed to counter the suppression of the Catholic faith in favour of Protestantism and replace Queen Elizabeth I with Mary Queen of Scots. The rising was unsuccessful and among the brutal retaliation the Markenfield family was forced to flee first to Scotland and then to the Low Countries surviving in increasing poverty.

The hall was seized for high treason and eventually granted to Sir Thomas Egerton, becoming a tenanted farmhouse bringing to an end 250 years of high status. The property was sadly neglected until in 1761 it was bought by Sir Fletcher Norton, the First Lord Grantley, a direct descendant of Sir Thomas Markenfield, who began a rare programme of conservation, including replacing the roof of the Great Hall which had fallen in years earlier.

The Grantley family still own Markenfield Hall now in the name of Curteis and commenced in the 1980's a programme of restoration which is nearly complete. The Chapel was restored from 1980 to 1985 including reconstituting the north wall due to subsidence. The fireplace in the Great Hall was rebuilt in early 2004 returning it to how it would have looked between 1340 and 1600. The Library which was added in 2005 will eventually house 5,000 books, among them the Markenfield archives. The restoration is also revealing the vaulting that establishes the character of the hall in an ongoing programme within the house.

Markenfield Hall is a wonderful well preserved example of a 14th century manor house with the Great Hall featuring tall gothic windows, their tracery resembling that of the great churches and cathedrals of the day. It has a rich and emotive historical past with it now being a much loved home of a family with direct connections back to the original builder.
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