Building record 4753/1/1 - The Monastery, Shutlanger

House, formerly farmhouse, perhaps originally manor house or grange. Early C14th, with C17th and C18th alterations. Restored 1965. Coursed squared limestone, C20 plain-tile roof, stone end stacks, and stone ridge stack to porch. The 14th-century elements possibly re-used fragments of a chapel known as Shittlehanger or Shuttlehanger Chapel (Possibly Formerly Parles Manor)

{1} House, formerly farmhouse, perhaps originally manor house or grange. Early C14th, with C17th and C18th alterations. Restored 1965. Coursed squared limestone, C20 plain-tile roof, stone end stacks, and stone ridge stack to porch. Hall house. 2-storeys; 3 1/2 bays. Glazed door to cross passage has roll-mould and hollow-chamfered doorway, in 2-storey gabled porch to left of centre. Porch has many moulded doorway with hood mould and sculptured head label stops, sexpartite vault with long chamfered ribs. 1-light window above doorway with pointed trefoil head and hood mould, a 2-light window to left side with broken Decorated tracery, diagonal buttresses and stone-coped gable with kneelers. Two 2-light hall windows to right of porch that to upper end wider and slightly lower. Both have straight heads, hood moulds and restored tracery with pointed trefoil headed lights and transoms. Service bay to left of porch has 2-light leaded windows to ground and first floors with wood ls and stair turret in angle, with window with pointed head. Service bay has diagonal buttress and stone-coped gable with kneelers. Offset buttress between hall windows. C20 single-storey lean-to extension to rear. Interior: wave moulded stone doorways in wall dividing cross passage from service bay, one to service bay, the other, narrower, to stone spiral stair leading to chamber above and small room over porch. Similar doorway at upper end of hall originally leading to presumed parlour. Substantially original roof. 2-and-half-bay hall roof is separated from service end roof by stone cross wall. Arch-braced spere and intermediate arch-braced trusses to hall roof. Angle-braced arcade plate and wind-braced purlins.

{4} Standing building referred to as "chapel". Probably late C14th. Converted to a house during Baker's lifetime.

{5} The house is of medieval origin. Original C14th work includes the roof, porch and windows. It was probably rebuilt in the C16/17th. It is usually said to be a chapel, but is almost certainly domestic, and possibly originally a manor house.

{6} The house was built with re-used fragments of a chapel. The main fabric of the existing structure is C16th.

{7} The chapel at Shutlanger has undergone many changes and mutilations, but the architecture still has an ecclesiastical flavour. It is impossible to give an accurate date to the building, but it may be assigned to the latter part of the 15th century or the beginning of the 16th century. Plan.

{9} "Shitlangre medietas advoc ecctiae".

{13} Unless a similar site has disappeared, that known as The Monastery must be the capital messuage belonging to the Parles estate. Whether this was built by them, or inherited through marriage, or acquired as part of their purchase from the Harrowdens is unclear. However, in the early C14th Robert de Harrowden held an estate in Stoke Bruerne, Shutlanger, Alderton and Shaw. This was sold in 1364 by John Harrowden to Ralph Parles of Watford, Northamptonshire. It is presumably possible that the chapel licenced in 1411 occupied the upper floor of the two-storey entrance porch to The Monastery, which appears to be a later addition to the main structure.

{14} Dendrochronological dating places construction of this building at 1081-1294

{15}{16} This grade I listed former farmhouse was possibly built as a manor house or grange. It is a two-storey house of 3.5 bays, including a spere truss with an almost complete roof intact (though lacking common rafters). The hall section of the roof has a smoke-blackened arch-braced short principal truss with angle-braced arcade plates and wind-braced purlins. A stone wall separates the service wing end of the roof.

Felling date range (OxCal modelled): 1304-14 (unrefined 1302-22)

All timbers (7/8): Brace 1274 (H/S); Arch brace 1284 (+26mm NM); Arcade plates 1245, 1258 (H/S), 1263 (H/S); Collar 1293 (H/S); Principal rafter 1294 (H/S). Site Master 1081-1294 SHUTLNGR (t= 12.1 S. ENGLAND; 11.0 GLASTONBURY; 10.8 LONDON)

{17} Undated photo, also five photos dated October 1965, two photos dated May 1977, and one dated 07.01.1994;

{19} The building now known as 'The Monastery' is a Scheduled AM Gd II. Provisional list No 11/29. Architectural reports in MOW's letters to the County Planning Office between 1956-61 date it to the late 14th century. It's original use was not determined.
The Monastery. Shutlanger. House built with re-used fragments of a church or chapel. The doorway seems to be c1300. There is another doorway inside the house leading to a spiral stone staircase, this part then is apparently in situ.

{20} Outstanding condition. The house is still named "The Monastery", but the owner knows of no monastic/ecclesiastic associations. The main fabric is 16 century.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 7/147 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F10 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN45262.

<3> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.403 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<4> Baker G., 1822-36, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Book). SNN10400.

<5> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.131/Site 3 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP74NW11 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<7> Dryden H., 1894, Associated Architectural Societies Reports, p.223-26 (unchecked) (Series). SNN16341.

<8> Woodfield P., 1981, The Larger Medieval Houses of Northamptonshire, pp181-185 (unchecked) (Article). SNN23550.

<9> 1459, Inquisitions Post Mortem (37?), (unchecked) (Document). SNN45522.

<10> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, Parish Files (unchecked) (Archive). SNN115.

<11> Ordnance Survey, 1958, 1950s/60s Ordnance Survey 6 Inch Mapping Series (SP74NW), SP74NW (unchecked) (Map). SNN16345.

<12> Ministry of Works, 1956-61, Ministry of Works Letters to County Planning Office, (unchecked) (Correspondence). SNN45521.

<13> Riden P.; Insley C., 2002, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.388 (unchecked) (Series). SNN102540.

<14> Giggins B.; Conlon R., 2011, Towcester and Potterspury Dendrochronology Assessment, (checked) (Report). SNN107444.

<15> Worthington, M., 2011, Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory Dendrochronology Dating Results, (checked) (Website). SNN108562.

<16> Moir J.; Moir M. (Editors), 1995-2005, Vernacular Architecture, vol.37 list 177 9checked) (Journal). SNN102633.

<17> Photographs of buildings in Shutlanger (Photographs). SNN113206.

<18> Historic England, Undated, The Monastery (possibly formerly St Annes Church), Shutlanger, BF085102 (Archive). SNN116088.

<19> Historic England, Unknown, Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments, Oral. Gregory (County Planning Officer Northampton). (Oral Report). SNN111577.

<20> Baird, J., 1970, Field investigators comments, F1 FDC 18-AUG-1970 (Notes). SNN110341.

Record last edited

Feb 23 2024 11:27AM