Sockburn Hall, Darlington: an archaeological ... - English Heritage

stood in the late 17th century, which is very plausible. Taken together, the earthworks
describe a substantial house consistent with this period - a main east-west building
attached to a lesser range, perhaps an arrangement of kitchens and service buildings,
with other outbuildings and walls surrounding a courtyard to the north. During the
survey four green-glazed pottery sherds were found at the point where the ha-ha
ditch cuts through the northerly part of this courtyard. These came from large storage
jars dating from the late 16th or 17th century, similar to examples found in Durham
(Ellison 1993; information from Jenny Vaughan). Their presence supports both the
probable date and likely domestic function of buildings in this area. Extensive use of
stone in the building is evident in the frequent outcrops of dark red-brown sandstone
across the main east-west range,representing either in-situ foundations or demolition
material. Fragments of tile and brick are also to be seen in molehills, and where the
soil is exposed around the roots of trees and bushes.
The site of House is surrounded by visible remains of gardens, generally arranged
in a regular, geometric pattern which is equally consistent with a later 16th- or 17th-
century date. A terraced garden compartment (C) matching the width of the main
east-west range is separated from the house platform by a low bank and carried some
60m southwards by two clearly defined boundary features: in the east, by a pronounced
scarp falling by some 1.4m in the direction of the river, and to the west, by a 7m wide
hollow flanked by low banks. The terrace is largely featureless, except where it is
interrupted by the routes of later tracks and carriageways; although a slight east-
west scarp and a small depression could indicate a former partition and the former
location of a central, eye-catching feature, such as a statue. The geophysical surveys
suggest traces of further garden partitions (Figure 22; GSB 2007, 3) and a broad zone
of compacted earth which presumably relates either to the original levelling of the
compartment, or its subsequent use (Figure 23; GSB 2007, 5). A slight and narrow
terrace, perhaps a raised path, runs along inside the bank on the western side of
this compartment ( ) and there is a slight indication that it turned east across the
middle of the compartment. A declivity in the scarp to the east ( ) could mark the
former position of steps descending to the lower grounds by the river. The most
pronounced feature, however, is a large rectangular mound ( ) about 1m in height
with an asymmetrical flattened summit, located at the south western corner of the
compartment. A prospect mound in such a location, perhaps surmounted by a small
arbour or belvedere, would have provided a visual focus as well as viewpoint across
the garden and towards the house. Its position follows in the late medieval tradition
of corner mounts and has exact parallels in late 16th century gardens such as Chipping
Campden in Gloucestershire and Holdenby in Northamptonshire (Everson 1989;
Taigel &Williamson 1993, 30-47). The mound is clearly aligned with the broad hollow
( ), an approach which leads directly to a central ramp on the northern side, most
probably the foundation of a flight of steps.
Traces of a stone wall survive in the discontinuous bank along the western side of
the approach to the mound, which divides garden C from a much larger but less
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