Time Team - Hooke Court, Hooke, Dorset - Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of the Results

Wessex Archaeology

The results of the evaluation demonstrated that the surviving west wing and the now demolished north wing had their origins in the 14th or 15th century and had seen much alteration including major building works in the 17th century. Analysis of the photographic and map evidence showed that the original access to the moated complex was through a gatehouse in the northern range. A blocked archway was identified leading out to the road positioned to the north of Hooke Court.

Four major phases of building work were defined, although due to the lack of recovered datable finds from the foundation levels of the buildings a clear date for their construction could not be ascertained. However, it was clear that there had been no building work on the site before the early medieval period (11th to 13th century) and that major demolition of the site occurred no later than the early 18th century.

The most extensive building phase of the site included a possible north-south aligned first floor hall with a porch at the northern end, aligned directly on the blocked gateway identified (from photographic evidence) in the demolished northern wing. The hall had at least two bays divided by a screen, with walls constructed of rock chalk. Stylistically the building could be as early as the 14th century, although the use of rock chalk suggests a slightly later, 15th or 16th century date.

The internal area of the moat revealed a number of buildings. Post-medieval pottery with a function in dairying was recovered in large quantities from demolition deposits, particularly from the south of the site. Other finds of similar post-medieval date from this area included fine vessel glass and decorative roof tiles, indicative of high status occupation.

The evaluation also demonstrated that the moat did not extend around the entire complex of the manor as had been originally thought and was confined to the southern and eastern side, implying that it may have functioned as a garden feature rather than as a conventional moat. Its date is unknown, although it potentially had its origins in the early medieval period.