|
One bright and sunny morning in April
2006 Hooke Court awoke to a sight it had never seen before.
The grounds had been taken over by the film crew and
production team of
Channel 4's Time Team
|
Mandy and Peter Cooper, owners of Hooke
Court, have always been fascinated by the history of the
building. Over the years they have learnt a great deal about
the past but there has always been a plethora of unanswered
questions. So when Time Team offered to come and investigate,
Peter and Mandy were only too happy to open their doors! |
 |
Day 1
Filming for the opening shots of the show involved the school
children who had all arrived back for the first day of term
ready to be film stars!
As the geophys results started to
come in it rapidly became clear that there was a lot to be
found. It was mainly a question of where to start!
The first trench on the lawn was
sited, the turf rolled up and digging began. Within minutes
Phil Vale was shouting for work to stop as the first finds
were unearthed roof tiles, broken pots, a medieval needle
and a piece of decorated Venetian glass were discovered in the
first hour of digging.
Analysis of the walls and finds, as
well as the geophys results led the team to the site for the
next trench. As work progressed a network of walls was
revealed - with no clear purpose!
Day 2
Work on the trenches continued. The search was on for the
Great Hall. Research had shown where the gatehouse used to be
and stonework in the Court gave indicators as to where the
Great Hall might have been. Using what they had found
already the team dug more and more trenches.
All of the resident schools were
given an opportunity to handle and clean the finds as well as
a chance to be shown around the site by the Time Team experts.
At the end of Day 2 came the exciting
discovery of a wall, a plinth for a large oak pillar, and a
carved capital stone leaving us all hanging on eagerly for
what revelations the next day might bring.
A party for all the Time Team cast,
crew and production team was held at the house, providing
friends and villagers with an opportunity to see the work in
progress.
Day 3
Day 3 was somewhat wetter and murkier than previous days, but
work continued apace. More trenches unearthed a cobbled
courtyard, doorpost, more walls, more pots and more finds
Excitingly the team found part of an
old dovecote. Research had found reference to a dovecote which
appears to have existed as early as the 1300s. The school
children were invited to join in the digging and searching for
finds in the mud an activity they took on with glee!
By the time digging had finished the
lawns looked as though they had been attacked by a team of
giant moles. The Time Team crew had made every effort to find
the Great Hall but sadly with no conclusive result. We await
the programme which is due to be aired in Spring 2007 to find
out more about their conclusions.
One thing we did discover we had
always assumed the Court was a moated manor house. However,
Time Team revealed that the moat is not a moat, but a
defensive ditch which has been extended over the years!
Although this in some ways is disappointing, in other ways it
is quite exciting it is probable that the defensive ditch
dates back to Saxon times and possibly even earlier,
indicating a settlement at Hooke Court much earlier than we
had previously thought. The
Time Team program featuring Hooke Court was broadcast on
Sunday 28 January 2007.
|
