The D'Arcy family and their Mansion. Maldon's MOOT HALL must be the most historically important building in the medieval core of the town. It started life as a private residence and experts are divided about the building's exact date - it probably dates between 1420 and 1436.To learn more about this we must introduce ourselves to an important man Sir Robert D'Arcy (1385-1448).
His statue is in a niche on the front of All Saints church. The D'Arcy family were a powerful dynasty, wealthy and influential Lords of Maldon. Sir Robert was Escheator for Essex, Sheriff and Bailiff of the Rochford Hundred, lay brother of the Colchester friars and M.P. for Maldon in 1422. He married a wealthy heiress, Alice Fitz Langley and needed a mansion to reflect his power. A building made of brick in the Town centre, when all others were timber, showed his status. It was probably not a highly defended property but the original mansion must have been impressive. The building is a three storied 'keep' and stair turret and the indication of beautiful brickwork gives an indication the D'Arcy property's quality.
Decay and ruin. It is unclear whether the mansion house was ever fully completed as it may have foundered in 1508 on the death of Roger D'Arcy, Sir Robert's successor. The rear part was demolished in 1536 and what was left of "Master D'Arcy's chief mansion" was sold in 1539 to a Bailiff of the Borough John Church who died in 1554. The tower itself was derelict by 1560 and when the antiquarian William Camden (1551-1623) visited around 1576, he noted "a small pile of brick built not long since by R. Darcy". When John Nordon wrote about it in 1594 it was referred to as D'Arcy' s Tower, the remains of a once fair house".
Conversion to the Moot Hall. A new lease of life began in 1576, when D Arcy's Tower was bought for £55 by the Corporation from the then owner Alderman Thomas Eve Head Burgess in 1554. It was to be used by the Burgesses as their new "le Motehall" close to the former timber Moot Hall nearby. It became a 'state of the art' local authority building. A Charterhouse where the surviving Borough Charters were stored. A Bailiffs' goal on the ground floor "prison in their howse of the Motehall" and a Quarter Sessions Court with the Meeting Chamber (the "Moot" of Saxon origin) on the second floor.
Multi use and development. The building needed repairs and alteration and in 1614, money was spent on "beautifying" it. More restoration followed in 1810 when the portico and upper arch headed front windows were installed. By 1863 the ground floor of the Moot Hall, complete with its own prison cell and exercise yard, served as the Police Station. In 1881 the clock was presented by George Courtauld the last M. P for the Borough.
The building today. The police moved out in 1912 to their new Station in West square. The Magistrates Court went to London Road in 1950. Local Government re-organisation effectively ended the use of the Borough Council Chamber in 1974. Extensive repairs took place in 2006. The Town Council still own the Moot Hall and it is now managed by a "Friends Group". It has become a focus of historic interest and people travel from far and wide to discover the heritage of D'Arcy's mansion and Maldon's Moot Hall.
Written by Stephen P Nunn
The earlier history of the Moot Hall was revealed when rare fifteenth century trefoil arches in the courtroom were uncovered during restorations by Maldon Town Council.
