Markenfield Hall

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Markingfield Hall; Merkyngfeld

In the civil parish of Markingfield Hall.
In the historic county of Yorkshire West Riding (Modern Authority of North Yorkshire, 1974 county of North Yorkshire).

The remains of Markenfield Hall medieval fortified house and the surviving remains of the park pale which enclosed the immediate estate of Markenfield. The present hall was built for John de Markenfield in 1300 and a licence to crenellate was granted in 1310, marking the completion of the building. The core of the complex includes a water filled, stone revetted moat 8m wide with external dimensions of 80m north to south by 70m east to west. The central platform is occupied by four ranges of buildings which extend around all four sides of the platform. The north range includes the main hall. Altered in the late C16, the open hall occupies the first floor of the north wing and the chapel is located in the east wing. In the early C15 the great kitchen was built at the west end of the north wing of the hall. The eastern range includes the service buildings whilst the southern range is dominated by a C16 gatehouse with flanking walls. The western range includes two storey structures built as stores and service buildings and were converted in C17 for use as farm buildings. In the field to the east of the moat are the earthworks of the formal gardens to the hall. Further earthwork remains include those of the service buildings of the medieval complex which lay within an outer court to the south. A park pale originally extended for 2.8 kilometres around Markenfield Hall and a continuous length of 2.4 kilometres still survives as a stone wall. The Hall complex has a more convoluted building history than usually described and contains elements of house of the 1230's

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1310 Feb 28.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 330977)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE29466739

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 51868

• Web site links
  • http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/houseyorkshire_markenfield.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p59
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p114-5
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p363
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p306
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p533
    Le Patourel, H.E. Jean, 1973, The Moated Sites of Yorkshire (The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series 5) p125
    Pevsner, N., 1967; revised by Enid Radcliffe. The Buildings of England: Yorkshire, West Riding (London) p359-60
    Wood, Margaret, 1965, The English Mediaeval House (London: Bracken) p180 etc
    Martin S Briggs, 1953, The English farmhouse (The new heritage series) p29
    Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p140-1
    Tipping, H.A., 1921, English Homes, period 1 Vol1 (London) p125-32
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p235-6
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p406
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol2 p231-4
• Journal Articles
  • Miller, J.S., 1985, 'Restoration Work at Markenfield Hall 1981-1984' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol53 p101-110
    Hussey, 1940 Dec 28, 'Markenfield Hall, Yorkshire' Country Life p566-701
    Tipping, H.A., 1912 Feb 10, 'Markenfield Hall, Yorkshire' Country Life p206-212
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1307-13) p212
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p572
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Gomme, Andor, 2006 Sept 30, 'A further look at Markenfield Hall' paper given at Castle Studies Group autumn conference, The Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, London.