A medieval hunting lodge at Bradgate Park, Leicestershire

We present the first results from the Bradgate Park Fieldschool (2015-19), focusing on a moated site located inside the boundary of the medieval deer park. Survey and excavation confirmed the presence of a timber-framed building offset to the west within the centre of a levelled platform. The material culture supports a date of construction in the mid-thirteenth century, but the site was abandoned by the end of the fourteenth century or early in the fifteenth century and collapsed in situ. The building was a three-bay hall with two base crucks and incorporated a fireplace with an external stone stack, reflecting the high status of the de Ferrers family. The paucity of artefacts suggests that the site was occupied temporarily or for only a short period time. Taken together, the evidence suggests that the structure was a periodically occupied hunting lodge, although it may have served a secondary function as a park-keeper’s residence.