Building record 272/7/1 - Armada House, High Street

A late 16th-century manor house, with 17th-century extension and extensive 19th-century renovation. A pair of medieval cruck blades in the 17th-century wing appear to have been later insertions, re-used from elsewhere. The house was badly damaged by fire in 2011 and subsequently restored, although some early elements were lost including an Elizabethan stone fireplace on the first floor and 16th-century inglenook.

{1} House, former Manor House. Late C16. Coursed limestone rubble, ironstone dressings, old tile roof, stone and rendered stacks. L-plan. Projecting gabled bay to left of 2 storeys, 4 bays to right, of one storey and attic. Entrance in second bay from left has wood lintel and plank door. 4-light window to left with stone mullions and transoms and wide moulded entablature. Weathered stone tablet in moulded frame above, noted as having been inscribed with the date 1588. Three-light stone mullioned and transomed windows with square hood to right of doorway. 2-light casement window with stone lintel in second bay from right. 3-light stone mullioned window with square hood in right bay. 3-light stone mullioned and transomed window in left bay on first floor. 2-light casement windows with wood lintel above entrance. 3 half dormers to right have coped gables with kneelers and stone mullioned windows with square hoods, centre window 2-lights, flanking windows 3-lights. Coped right gable end with kneelers. Massive stack on left side, second stack between second and third bays from left. Wing projecting from right side at rear. C16/C17. Similar materials, 2 storeys, one bay. 2-light stone mullioned window on ground floor and 2-light casement window with wood lintel above. Coped gable end with kneelers. Interior not inspected but noted as having original stone fireplaces and moulded beams.

{5} In 1542 Sir Edmund Peckham had license to assign the manor and rectory to himself for life. In 1567 George Lovett died in possession of the same manor, with his sixteen year old son, Pinchpole Lovett named as heir. It is possible that it was Pinchpole Lovett who built/extended the old manor house. The house is first shown in the 1593 All Souls College map, where it is depicted as a single range aligned along the road. A further range shown to the south may be barns.
In his will, dated 9th May 1620, Ralph Cobbett left his “manor, mansion house, or capital messuage with appurtenances....situate in Weston, and all the lands, tenements etc in Weedon and Weston aforesaid latelie purchased of one Thomas Betham and Richard Betham his son.” The mansion house is likely to have been Armada House.
At some point after this date, Armada House became part of the Weston Hall estate. The house was certainly used as a farmhouse by the mid-19th century and probably long before. The trade directories note the Manor House as being ‘occupied by’, suggesting it was tenanted, rather than owned by the people who lived there. Joseph Hinton, a farmer, probably occupied the house from at least 1869, although the house is not specifically mentioned until 1885.
In 1936, Gotch {6} describes the house thus:
This is a charming example of a small house, built according to the good traditions of the times and in the good material of the district, without any particular desire for grandeur. It derived its name from the date of its erection, 1588, the year of the attempted invasion by the Spanish Armada. The datestone, which is just over the ground window of the large gable, used to show the date plainly, but in recent years the face of the stone has suffered from the weather and the figures have disappeared. The date of 1588 applies to the taller part in which it occurs, the lower wing to the right is some 20-30 years later and is more plainly treated especially in the interior. In the earlier portion which comprises little more than two rooms on each floor, there is an interesting original chimney piece, or fire-place, in each room; the ceiling beams are well moulded, and the front room downstairs has a moulded door frame with a flat pointed head, all indicating that the house was one of little pretension.
Armada House in its present form comprises two wings set at right angles to each other. The house is built largely of stone (mostly limestone with occasional blocks or patches of Northampton Sand with Ironstone). Some brick has been used in alterations, while timberframing at the western half is relatively intact to first floor level, although the roof is largely burnt out. The roof covering, where it survived the fire of 2011, is of clay peg tiles. The north range, which is east to west-aligned, has as its principal facade its west-facing gable. It is unequally divided into two parts, but this is not the only former subdivision, as map evidence shows the range in 1864 extended further east, by half as much again. In addition it had a small ancillary range set at right angles further north, which is shown in maps and photographs between 1864 and 1936. Its absence from c1840 (in a drawing by the county artist George Clarke) suggests it was built c1840-64, although artistic license cannot be ruled out. The north range is of two storeys, ground and first floor. The 1864 map also shows the extensive array of barns which once lined the plot to the south of Armada House.
The south range, north to south-aligned, faces principally west. It comprises a ground floor with a dormered first floor. It is built of similar stone to the north range and is mostly intact, although smoke-blackened over some of the interior and with some damage within the roof. Potentially the most notable and far-reaching structural aspect of the south range is that its two of the three bays of building are divided internally by a massive pair of full-height cruck blades, fire-affected at the apex. They are visible at various points throughout the height of the house. Their date is currently unknown but it is unlikely that such crucks, whether new or reused from elsewhere, would have been put into a house of Manorial status as late as the late sixteenth century, when the construction method was old and largely relegated down the social scale. The western facing wall has been moved outwards, away from the crucks, probably in the seventeenth century. Understanding these exceptionally rare cruck blades is a key to dating the house’s origins.
Photographs indicate little change has been wrought on the exterior of the surviving house during the 20th century. Exceptions are the loss of the former north ancillary range and an eastern, longer portion of the north range.

{7} Further extensive building recording undertaken after the fire and during reconstruction between 2012 and 2013, including a suite of tree-ring dates {8}. The origin of the fire had been in the north range, which was where much of the damage was located. The coffered ceiling in the older north range had survived the fire as had a classicising Elizabethan fireplace in the same room. Dendrochronological dating of the oak coffering axial beam and joists of the ceiling produced dates in the period 1487-1512. This felling date also accords with the distinctive four-centred doors into the range. However, these elements are at odds with other, Elizabethan elements and tree-ring dates within this range, which suggests that the ceiling and the doors were re-used from another source, perhaps monastic. Felling dates from (badly fire damaged) roof timbers of this range dated to between 1592 and 1617, according with the traditional date of construction of 1588. A fireplace directly above the ornate Elizabethan example in the room below, was of a more mundane character, but the ogee and hollow moulding and highly-placed chamfer stops suggest it was contemporary.
The south range had suffered from some fire and water damage and required stripping -out and some rebuilding, particularly at the north end. Externally the range appears to be 17th century with a suite of broadly-matching mulioned 'Jacobethan'-style windows on the ground floor and similar dormers on the first floor. However, the ground floor windows are composed of mis-matching elements and, along with poorly-fitted drip mouldings, are clearly re-made from elsewhere. Victorian brick cheek-pieces show that the first floor dormers are all 19th-century creations or re-creations. At the north end of this range was a pair of medieval cruck blades, made in such a rustic manner as to suggest that they originated in an earlier building or that this building was once of much lowlier status. The cruck is a raised cruck, which may have originated as a base cruck, later shortened as the bases rotted. The blades were of elm which precluded dendro dating. The wall-line lies beyond the projected locations of the feet, which might suggest that the cruck is the oldest element and the current stone walls represent cladding or rebuilding of an earlier structure's (timber) walls. However, it is also possible that it had been imported from elsewhere at a later date. Tree ring dates for roof trusses in the south range produced an exact and consistent date of 1640. However, a number of inconsistencies in the roof construction suggests that this entire range underwent a significant re-built post-1864, which may have included remedial works to the roof support and fenestration.

{10} Undated photo;

{11} Outstanding condition. See photograph. Mr C Cooling states the name of his house is "Weston Manor
House".

{12} No change since report of 14 4 70.

{13} Sketch of parts of house;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 4/211 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F03 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN45262.

<3> LEWIS K., 1978, Weedon St. Loys: priory and parish, (unchecked) (Book). SNN60105.

<4> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.458 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<5> Soden I., 2012, Heritage Asset Survey: Archaeological Building Recording and Desk-Based Assessment of Armada House, Weston, Northamptonshire (Preliminary Issue), (checked) (Report). SNN109186.

<6> Gotch J.A., 1936, The Old Halls and Manor Houses of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Book). SNN44101.

<7> Soden, I, 2014, Archaeological research, building recording and analysis at Armada House, Weston, Northamptonshire 2012-13 (Report). SNN111459.

<8> Arnold, AJ and Howard, RE, 2012, Armada House, High Street, Weston, Near Towcester, Northamptonshire: Tree-ring analysis of timbers (Report). SNN111460.

<9> Baker G., 1830, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Book). SNN77328.

<10> Photographs of buildings in Weston and Weedon (Photographs). SNN114034.

<11> Colquhoun, FD, 1970, Field Investigator's Comments, F1 FDC 14-APR-70 (Notes). SNN111540.

<12> Tittensor, A J, 1976, Field Investigator's Comments, F2 AJT 18-OCT-76 (Notes). SNN113157.

<13> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/290/2 (Archive). SNN115.

Record last edited

Mar 20 2025 4:32PM