BARDOLFS MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The exact manor is the Bardolf's Manor recorded in the parish of Ringstead, Norfolk, rather than a manor centred on modern Downham Market. PastPlaces lists BARDOLFS as a manor within Ringstead parish, and Blomefield's History of Norfolk describes Bardolf's Manor under Ringstead Magna, stating that it later passed to the L'Estrange family. A Norfolk Historic Environment record identifies the probable medieval manor-site earthwork west of Back Lane in Ringstead. The registry location of Downham Market appears to be a modern administrative or geographic lead and conflicts with the stronger parish-specific evidence.
Representative point: 52.9342, 0.5338
Basis: documented_manor_site — Approximate conversion of the published British National Grid reference TF7035540452 for the Ringstead archaeological area containing the probable Bardolf's Manor earthwork. The site is described as an L-shaped or formerly oval-moated earthwork west of Back Lane, between Chapel Lane and Hall Farm Lane.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The available evidence establishes the probable manor-house/manor-site location but does not provide a documented polygon or sufficient historical parcel-by-parcel evidence to reconstruct the full territorial extent of the medieval manor. The 3.7-hectare pasture designation in the modern neighbourhood-plan document is a modern greenspace boundary, not the historical manorial boundary, and is therefore not returned as a manor polygon.
Sources:
- The National Archives, Manorial Documents Register: BARDOLFS MANOR, record F240040: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F240040 — Registry record supplied for the exact manor name and authority reference GB/NNAF/M167954.
- PastPlaces: Ringstead Parish through time: https://pastplaces.org/unit/10068459 — Lists BARDOLFS as a manor contained within Ringstead parish, Norfolk, distinguishing it from the separate RINGSTEAD manor.
- Francis Blomefield, An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, Ringstead Magna: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/History_and_antiquities_of_the_county_of_Norfolk_%28IA_historyantiquiti09norwiala%29.pdf — Describes Bardolf's Manor under Ringstead Magna and records its descent from the Bardolfs to the L'Estrange family.
- Ringstead Neighbourhood Plan Green Space Assessment 2023: https://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/8681/ringstead_np_green_space_assessment_2023.pdf — Identifies Bardolf's Manor as a probable medieval moated-site earthwork west of Back Lane, notes that it was marked on a 1690 map, and gives the relevant Ringstead archaeological-area reference TF7035540452.
- Norfolk Heritage Explorer, Parish Summary: Ringstead: https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?uid=%27TNF1285%27 — Provides authoritative local context for Ringstead, including the parish's medieval manorial landscape and its location in north-west Norfolk.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The manor is securely associated with Ringstead, Norfolk, despite the supplied registry location of Downham Market.
- The representative coordinates are an approximate site-centre conversion, not a surveyed manor-house coordinate.
- No historically defensible polygon for the full manorial landholding was found; do not substitute the modern Ringstead parish, neighbourhood-plan area, or 3.7-hectare greenspace boundary.