Building record 264/0/40 - Manor Cottage, Manor Road

Pair of cottages, now one dwelling. C17. Two left bays, coursed limestone rubble banded with ironstone.

{1} Pair of cottages, now one dwelling. C17. Two left bays, coursed limestone rubble banded with ironstone. Two right bays, coursed limestone rubble. Thatched roof, brick stacks. 2 storeys and attic, 4 bays. Doorway in left bay has plank door and wood lintel continued over 2-light casement window to right. 3-light casement window with wood lintel in third bay from left. C20 doorway in third bay from right has wood lintel, 4-centred wooden arch and plank door. Two 2-light casement windows to right. 2-light casement windows with wood lintels on first floor. All windows have old iron casements and leaded panes. Coped left gable end with kneelers. Interior: Stop chamfered beams, open fireplace part filled in by C20 brick.

{3} Undated photo;

{4} Manor Cottage is a listed domestic building traditionally dated to the 17th century and thought to be associated with the adjacent manor house constructed by Lawrence Washington in the mid-16th century. Historic building recording undertaken following soft strip and prior to refurbishment demonstrated that the building originally comprised a smaller, detached, two-cell cottage aligned differently from Kiln Farmhouse. This western element functioned as a hall and service range, with the principal room heated by a large inglenook fireplace and furnished with exposed ceiling joists embellished with step and run-out stops, a feature characteristic of late 16th- or more commonly 17th-century vernacular construction. The joists were laid on-edge, supporting a post-medieval, 17th-century date for this phase. The building was subsequently extended eastwards, probably in the late 17th or early 18th century, creating a three-cell plan with cross-passage that closely mirrored the development of Kiln Farmhouse. The eastern rooms were underdrawn in plaster, contrasting with the exposed timber ceilings of the earlier phase, and indicating a later date consistent with 18th-century improvements. Further internal alterations included the re-siting of the staircase into the eastern range by the 19th century, providing sole access to the first floor. The attic was exploited as habitable space from an early date, with an attic room constructed above the principal first-floor chamber and accessed by a winder stair adjacent to the chimney stack. Although the roof has been rebuilt and strengthened over time, and the historic thatch replaced, the building retains a substantial proportion of its 17th- and 18th-century fabric, legible plan form and numerous historic fixtures and fittings, contributing to its architectural and historical interest.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 4/181 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

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

<3> Photographs of buildings in Sulgrave (Photographs). SNN113448.

Record last edited

Apr 22 2026 9:59AM