Building record 3825/1/1 - Walgrave Hall Farmhouse

Country house now farmhouse. Mid C17, altered C18 and C19. Limestone ashlar and squared coursed lias with slate roof. Passage to left of entrance has large plaster coat of arms of the Langham dated 1674.

{1} Country house now farmhouse. Mid C17, altered C18 and C19. Limestone ashlar and squared coursed lias with slate roof. Now 3-unit plan, originally larger. 2 storeys with attic, 4-window range. Gabled cross wing to right breaking forward has 4-light stone mullion windows with transoms to ground and first floor. Similar blank 2-light window to return wall of cross wing. 3-window range to left has early C20 casements in original openings with flat arches and keystones. C19 door to right, probably former window opening, has C20 porch. Ashlar gable parapets and brick stacks at ridge and end. Side elevation to right has blank 2-light stone mullion with transom. Interior: Passage to left of entrance has large plaster coat of arms of the Langham dated 1674. This area which is now subdivided originally formed part of the Hall. Entrance hall has 2 openings with semi-circular heads and keystones; similar openings on first floor landing. Fine staircase c.1630 at rear, around open well with balusters having Ionic heads and openwork newel posts. The house owned by the Langhams family originally extended to the left of the present house with a tower in the centre, according to a C18 drawing. (Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.441).

{3} The initially belonged to the Walgrave family, then the Lanes, and was then sold in 1655 to John Langham. The Langhams owned it until 1911. What exists today is a fragment of a larger house which continued, according to old illustrations, on the left with a tower and then a lower wing.

{4} Undated photo, also photo dated 06.05.1992, also set of plans;

{5} The hall, which contains parts of a 17th-century building, stands on, or close to, the site of the main medieval manor house of the village. The fishponds are probably to be associated with this medieval house while other earthworks are the remains of gardens laid out in 1671-4 when the preesnt house was built by the Langham family.

{6} Walgrave Hall, standing to the SE of Walgrave, is a C17th building, now much altered and modernized.

{7} The hall is as described above {6} and is not outstanding. The present occupier said he has a print showing it extending farther north-west beyond an arch. Examination of the building suggests that the missing portion was detached.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 11/218 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G02 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN44900.

<3> Bailey, B, Pevsner, N, and Cherry, B, 2013, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, P. 634 (Book). SNN111989.

<4> Photographs of buildings in Walgrave (Photographs). SNN114090.

<5> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.149 site 8 (checked) (Series). SNN77380.

<6> Salzman L.F.(ed), 1937, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.217-20 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100371.

<7> Seaman, BH, 1969, Field investigators comments, F1 BHS 07-OCT-1969 (Notes). SNN111907.

Record last edited

Oct 6 2022 11:17AM