ABSTRACT

The special interest of the South Witham buildings (Figure 5.1) springs from their falling within a comparatively short period of time spanning what is probably the most crucial phase in the whole development of building construction. Thus the first Great Hall (Building 16) was quite wide (7.32m) for a small establishment; this was in the early 13th century. The documentary sources do not establish when the modest set of buildings belonging to phase 1 were replaced by the more imposing group, of which the Great Hall, chapel and lesser hall were the key elements. No archaeological evidence was found to suggest any partition dividing the hall functionally, though the placing of the hearth near the west end argues some differentiation between the ends of the hall, above and below the entrance, which was not marked structurally.