Building record 27/1/1 - Chacombe Priory

Country House on the site of an Augustinian Priory. C16

{1} Country House on the site of an Augustinian Priory. C16, incorporating medieval remains. Remodelled early C18. Limestone and ironstone ashlar, stone slate roof. Stone stacks. E-plan, facing south, irregular rear elevations. Main front: 2 storeys and attic, 9 bays. Flanking wings separately roofed, 2 storeys, one bay. Projecting 2-storey centrepiece incorporating C16 work, and sundial has doorway with square stone hood and C19 ribbed plank door carved with a band of quatrefoils; 3-light first-floor window with stone mullions and transom and square hood, balustraded parapet with twisted columns at angles surmounted by gable with elaborate strapwork cresting flanked by obelisks. C18 windows on either side of entrance have plain stone frames and C19 6-pane sashes. Similar windows with 12-pane sashes on first floor. Bracketed wooden cornice, C20 dormers, coped gable ends. Side wings have similar fenestration and straight parapets. Stone porch to right with twisted columns and balustraded parapet said to have been built c.1910. Rear elevation has central projection with double hipped roof and early C18 wood mullioned and transomed windows. Gabled wing to left, C19/C20, and C18 2-bay projection to right. Interior remodelled C18 and early C20. Open-well staircase c.1700 has square panelled newel posts and twisted balusters. Entrance to staircase from hall framed by wooden fluted Doric pilasters. C16 stone fireplace with 4-centred arch in ground-floor room and similar fireplace in bedroom. C18 style plaster cornices and fireplaces in ground floor rooms may be replacements after a fire c.1910. Main rafters and stumps of cut tie beams exposed above staircase, probably part of C16 roof structure. Building known as 'The Chapel' adjoining house to right (north east), late C13, has 2 gabled rectangular blocks running north to south. Coursed limestone rubble, stone slate and slate roofs. West wall divided into 3 bays by buttresses, has string course at first floor level. Late C13 doorway in right bay with pointed chamfered arch. C13 window centre bay, 2 trefoiled lights under square head with mullion in form of octagonal shaft with moulded base. Small window left bay of first floor c.1300 has 2 ogee lights and square head. Doorway in left bay of south wall has wood lintel and plank door; above it is blocked 4-centred arch. Similar doorway in north wall on first floor approached by stone steps. East wall has C18 windows with wood lintels and wood mullions. Interior: Ground floor divided into 4 rooms by thick stone walls. Stumps of original floor joists remain and two complete chamfered main beams, one supported by arched timber braces springing from stone corbels C13 trefoil headed recess and shelf in wall facing south entrance (possibly former piscina) similar mutilated recess in north room. Walls of first floor partly rebuilt in brick with pigeon holes. Roof timbers C19/C20. There was an Augustinian Priory here founded in the mid C12. It was dissolved in 1536 and c.1542 acquired by Michael Fox. The site is bounded to the south and east by a broad water filled ditch. (Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.146; V.C.H.: Northamptonshire, Vol.II (1906) p.133-5).

{6} There were fires at Chacombe Priory in 1600, and in 1921 when 5 rooms were damaged.

{7} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 6/51 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F02 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN45262.

<3> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.146 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<4> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.133-35 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100369.

<5> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.26 site 2 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<6> ALLFREY E., The History of Chacombe Priory, (checked) (Note). SNN46074.

<7> Photographs of buildings in Chacombe (Photographs). SNN111837.

Record last edited

Jul 19 2024 2:31PM