Building record 1156/2/1 - Ecton Hall

The earlier Montgomery Manor which occupied this site (see 1156/4) was purchased by the Catesby family in 1574, and sold in 1699 to Ralph Freeman who improved the estate. The present house is a Gothic style country with 16th century origins but mainly circa 1756 for Ambrose Isted by Sanderson Miller. The house was extended in 1889 for the Sotheby family although some of the extensions were demolished during the mid 20th century. The house has a 19th century conservatory.

{1} Ecton estate has an excellent series of maps and drawings which chart the evolution of the country house, its gardens and landscape park from 1703 to the end of the C19th.
Ecton has a more wooded aspect than most parishes in the Nene valley, a character which it owes to emparking and landscaping around a country house which was, according to Pevsner, “the foremost example of early Gothic Revival in the county".
The main manor of Ecton was purchased by Thomas Catesby in 1574 and the family continued to hold the manor until the late C17th. Though undocumented it was undoubtedly they who first established formal gardens around the Hall.
In 1699 they sold the estate to Ralph Freeman, who having considerably improved it, in turn sold it to Thomas Isted in 1712 for £12,000. Ambrose Isted I inherited the estate in 1727 when he was only 9 years old. The estate was not large, but is recorded as having undergone some enclosure and being managed in a prudent and well ordered fashion. It was left in excellent condition to the heir. Thus, during the 1740s to 1760 Ambrose Isted set about improving and developing his estate, buying up more land, and eventually enclosing the open fields by the Parliamentary Inclosure Act, to implement improved agricultural practices. It was at this time that he also invested in the River Nene Navigation [Mon 3143].

{3}{4} The house shown in 1703 had by the 1740s been substantially altered and enlarged.

{14} Ecton Hall and its former gardens lie on the east side of the village; the hall and most of the former outbuildings are now in a variety of ownerships and no longer exist as a country house with integral grounds. Previous records concerning the gardens were scant, and their origin and development unknown prior to the first detailed depiction on the First Edition OS map of 1885. The kitchen gardens were recently sold to new owners.
The kitchen gardens lie north-west of the Hall (previously the seat of the Sotheby family and their forebears, the Isteads).
A huge number of former Sotheby archices were sold at auction (at Sotheby's) in 1955 and their whereabouts are no longer known. It is not known whether they included garden catalogues or records of purchases or horticultural diaries.
The buildings ensemble of the gardens reached its zenith by 1926, at which time there were as many as seven gardeners employed there. This growth was related to successive inheritances of Charles Sotheby, Major General Frederic Edward Sotheby and his wife Edith, and Lieutenant General Herbert George Sotheby. The payment of death duties in 1925 however tipped the family fortune into difficult times.
Ecton Hall was unoccupied from 1952 and fell into disrepair. The gardens did receive some attention however as they were productive.

{15} Attached to the house are flower gardens, plantations and grounds otherwise difersified by ornament, and laid out in a style worthy of the taste of Capability Brown; in one of the former is a summer house form a design by the celebarted Inigo Jones.

{18} Country house. C16 origins but mainly c.1756 for Ambrose Isted probably by Sanderson Miller; extended 1889 for Sotheby family. Lias ashlar with slate roof laid to diminishing courses. Originally shallow U-shape plan in Gothick style. 2 storeys with attic. Garden front of 1756 is of 9-window range. Central canted porch has ogee head opening flanked by similar blank openings and rib vault inside. Central 3 bays have sash windows with glazing bars and labels above. Flanking 2 bays break forward with pairs of similar sash windows under combined label. Flanking bays to far left and right have 2-storey centred stone bay window with sashes having some Gothick glazing bars. Armorial panels between windows and castellated parapet. Curved gables above each have 2-light stone mullioned attic windows. Centre 7 bays have castellated parapet. Hipped and gabled roofs and stone stacks at ridge. C19 conservatory to right. Elevation to left has arch head window, 3 sashes and a central gable. Elevation to rear of garden front has gables and a 2-storey Tudor style porch to left with tall 3-light window in similar style to far left. Several stone mullioned windows have arch head lights. Interior not inspected but entrance hall noted as having remains of C18 plaster ceiling and plaster decoration to arch head doorcases originally depicting medallions of Homer, Julius Caesar and Cicero. Some C17 panelling may also remain. The late C19 extensions to the left of the garden front and the rear were demolished in mid C20. (Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.207; Squires Homes and other Old Houses in Northamptonshire by J.A. Gotch, p.30).

{21} Front of hall dated 1756. Foremost example of the Early Gothic Revival in the county. Ambrose Isted who built house was a poet and translater. There is plaster decoration with medallions of Homer, Julius Ceasar and Cicero.

{22} Undated photo; six photos of 1977 showing interior plasterwork including medallion of Cicero as well as collapse of floors in Saloon and collapse of roof.

<1> Foard G., 1993, Ecton: Its Lost Village and Landscape Park, p.335-342 (checked) (Article). SNN54811.

<2> Mowl T.; Hickman C., 2008, The Historic Gardens of England: Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Series). SNN106082.

<3> 1703, Ecton Parish Survey (NRO Map 2115), (unchecked) (Map). SNN22606.

<4> Fuller J., 1740 (circa), Bird's Eye View of Ecton Hall and Gardens (NRO Map 2162), (unchecked) (Plan). SNN46086.

<5> 1759, Ecton Inclosure Award (NRO Map 2121), (unchecked) (Map). SNN22595.

<6> Ecton (Sotheby Collection), (unchecked) (Archive). SNN108762.

<7> Hohnholz J., 1964, Ecton Hall: Die Verdrangung der agrarisch genutzten Flur und deren Umgestaltung in eine Parklandschaft, p.52-57 (unchecked) (Article). SNN76729.

<8> 1770 (circa), Plan of Part of The Estate of Ambrose Isted in Ecton (NRO Map 2120), (unchecked) (Map). SNN22532.

<9> 1781, Map of Ecton (NRO Map 2119), (unchecked) (Map). SNN54810.

<10> 1850 circa, Map of Ecton (NRO Map 685), (unchecked) (Map). SNN57997.

<11> 1830 circa, Modern Redrawing of C19th Estate Plan, (unchecked) (Plan). SNN109739.

<12> Ordnance Survey, 1900, Second Edition OS 25 Inch Mapping Series (45.04), (unchecked) (Map). SNN109737.

<13> Ordnance Survey, 1926, Third Edition Ordnance Survey 25 Inch Mapping Series (45.04), (unchecked) (Map). SNN109738.

<14> Soden I., 2014, Building Analysis and Recording Adjacent to The Former Kitchen Gardens of Ecton Hall, Northamptonshire, p.1-7 (checked) (Report). SNN109626.

<15> Cole J., 1825, The History and Antiquities of Ecton, p.42 (unchecked) (Book). SNN47349.

<16> Ingram R.; Dicks D., 2013, Ecton in Old Photographs, (unchecked) (Book). SNN109740.

<17> Heward J.; Taylor R., 1996, The Country Houses of Northamptonshire, p.200 (unchecked) (Book). SNN41757.

<18> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 18/66 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<19> 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G05 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN100394.

<20> Gotch J.A., 1939, Squires' Homes and Other Old Buildings of Northamptonshire, p.30 (unchecked) (Book). SNN39616.

<21> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.207 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<22> Photographs of buildings in Ecton (Photographs). SNN111810.

<23> Ordnance Survey, 1885, First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 Inch Mapping Series (45.04), (unchecked) (Map). SNN105210.

<24> Historic England, Undated, ECTON HALL, ECTON, BF061866 (Archive). SNN115818.

Record last edited

Oct 24 2024 11:44AM