Hellifield Peel Castle

There has been a manor house at Hellifield for over 1000 years. The earliest structure was a Saxon Aisled Hall House, probably erected in about 850AD. The post holes to this building were discovered by Cathy Tuck, our Archaeologist, whilst carrying out excavations on site prior to the restoration work. The next phase in the building history was in mid 12th Century i.e about 1150; the existing Saxon Hall House was enclosed in stone. This was a demonstration of wealth by the new lord. The outline of the end gable of this structure can still be seen in the east elevation of the house. This ?Norman Manor? house would have looked very similar to Boothby Pagnall Manor in Lincolnshire. In the 1250?s a solar tower was added to this Norman Manor by Elias de Knole. This would have been a small antechamber to the main hall and first floor chamber – the two small bedrooms are the oldest rooms in the house. The ground floor room shows traces of the vaulting. The upper stone barrel vault was rebuilt as part of the restoration.