Building record 1974/2/1 - Manor Farmhouse (Medieval Manor House)

Manor house originating in the 14th century as a hall house with a cross wing. It was added to in the 16th century. Datestones of 1775 and 1887 refer to its restorations. It is of regular coursed limestone and ashlar with slate roofs

{1} Manor house. C14, C16, datestones 1775 and 1887 refer to restorations. Regular coursed limestone and limestone ashlar with slate roofs. Originally hall house with cross wing. 2 storeys with attic. Entrance front has gabled cross wing to left with C16 three-storey semi-circular bay window. First floor window is of 10 lights with stone mullions and transoms, other floors are 3- and 4-light stone-mullioned windows. Entrance to right of window has C19 plank door under shallow stone arch. One-window range to right is single storey with catslide roof. C19 canted wooden bay window with sashes with glazing bars. C20 door and wood surround to right. C18 two-storey wing attached to far right is rendered and has one sash window with glazing bars. Cross wing has ashlar gable parapets, ashlar stack at ridge and stone stack at end. Datestones above ground floor window to left. Elevation to left of cross wing has central C16 three-storey semi-circular bay window similar to the entrance front, with blank ground floor, 12-light first floor window and 5-light attic window. C14 corner buttresses, probably altered C16. Rear elevation has gabled cross wing to right with 2-and 3-stage buttresses to left and centre. Large blocked window at first floor has ashlar surround and square head. 2-light C14 window in gable. Two C20 windows at ground floor. 2-storey range to left was originally the hall and has 8-light casement with transom at ground floor and sash window in eaves dormers above. Ashlar gable parapets. Interior: hall is now subdivided and has open fireplace with bressumer. Early C19 staircase off the hall has stick balustrade. Large first floor room in cross wing was probably the solar and has C16 wooden fireplace surround with overmantle and arms of Nicholls family. Room below was probably the domestic offices. Roof structure of hall said to be original. Owned by Seymour and Nicholl families C14 to C16. (Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.246; Squires Homes and Other Old Buildings of Northamptonshire: J.A. Gotch, p.29).

{5} {1} The builder of the original house, John de Seymour (d.1340) held manors at Hardwick and Grafton and was Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1322. At the end of the 14th century, Hardwick passed by marriage to the Greenes of Greens Norton and through them to the Mordaunts of Drayton. One third of the manor, including the house, was sold in 1549 and again in 1567 when it was purchased by Thomas Nicholls (by 1529-68), serjeant-at-law. His son Francis (1557-1604) rebuilt parts of the house and refitted it after he came of age. His son Francis (c.1587-1642), made a baronet in 1641, preferred to live in the house at Faxton which he inherited in 1616 from his uncle, Augustine Nicholls. Francis' grandson Sir Edward Nicholls, who died in 1717, was the last of the family to own Hardwick, although the manor had been sold early in the 17th century. The subsequent ownership is not clear.

Hardwick now has the appearance of a small manor house but it contains part of perhaps the most important and unusual medieval hall roof to survive in Northamptonshire. This roof, and the three storey stone cross wing to the west with first floor and attic chambers over service rooms, are all that remain of the house built in the early 14th century by John de Seymour. The house was substantially altered in the late 16th century when a stack was inserted in the centre of the hall, the west half of the hall floored over and the cross wing remodelled. In the 18th and 19th centuries Hardwick declined in status, the east end of the hall, including the screens passage and service rooms beyond, were demolished and several minor alterations made. The house is not aligned with the cardinal points of the compass but has been described as if the cross wing is at the west end. [More…]

{6} Map of 1587; manor house rebuilt 1567-8. Garden abandoned 1684 - house a working farm.

{8} By 1250 the manor was conveyed to Henry de Seymour as a tenant of William Grimbaud, who himself held the fee of John de Hastings. The property returned to Grimbaud in 1325 but this may have been no more than a formality for it was again held by the Seymours as sub-tenants, notably John de Seymour between 1329 and his death in 1340. The Seymours apparently occupied the manor until the second half of the 14th century when the Manor, with 5 1/2 virgates in demesne of 26 acres was forfeit to the crown. At this time Bridges mentions the property consisting of the manor, township and a large grange and garden, the latter being conveyed separately by John de Seymour at the door of his manor in 1349. In 1410 the property passed to the Greens’ of Greens Norton by their marriage into the Seymour family. Thomas Nicholls bought the property from the Greens of Drayton in 1567 who apparently soon initiated the major rebuilding, for his arms appear over the great fireplace in the solar and on the external bow window, although he died shortly after and the work was probably carried through by his father, William Nicholls who died in 1596 aged 96. John, Lord Maudaunt, succeeded to the property in 1608 and in 1628 was created Earl of Peterborough. An estate map of 1587 illustrates a complex house with a fine adjoining knot garden.

The house comprises a main range and cross wing, the latter being of three storeys. A number of single-storey extensions have been added to the south and east sides in Victorian and modern times. The medieval work can be most clearly identified externally. It is apparently confined to the north end of the cross wing extending through all three storeys, and the north wall of the main range, although here the medieval work can only be tentatively identified by the ashlar quoins to the gable and central window. The cross wing gable has, by contrast, medieval buttresses to the ground floor level, and a blocked window with moulded jambs and square head, partly removed by the 16th century alterations at first floor level. On medieval precedent, the main range would normally contain the hall, and the cross wing the service rooms with the solar in the first floor position as represented by the blocked window. Internally the main range has an inserted fireplace at the east gable end. The roof over the main range is inaccessible. In the last quarter of the 16th century the building was considerably remodelled and three-storey bow windows inserted on both west and south elevations of the cross wing.
The problems of interpretation at Hardwick concern the main range for it is uncommonly smaller than medieval parallels. It appears from the narrower south wall (ignoring the recent extensions) that the medieval hall, if such it is, was completely destroyed, leaving only the north wall, and the replacement built much narrower. The disposition of the buttresses on the north gable of the cross wing also requires some explanation. The corner buttress has been considerably reinforced, probably in the 16th century, but the curious central buttress, small and out of square, still remains unexplained. On the first floor, the spacing of the window suggests that the medieval arrangement necessitated two square headed lights, and that this room was a main daily living room. The attic window, the only second storey medieval window in the county, appears to be in its original position and provides a date approximately mid - 14th century. This room must have provided living accommodation. The later alterations can be dated to post 1574-6. An inscription on the south gable wall to the side of the entrance claims that the house was repaired in 1775 and restored 1887. To this last date may be attributed the building of the parlour at the east end.

{6} By 1250 the manor was conveyed to Henry de Seymour as a tenant of William Grimbaud, who himself held the fee of John de Hastings. The property returned to Grimbaud in 1325 but this may have been no more than a formality for it was again held by the Seymours as sub-tenants, notably John de Seymour between 1329 and his death in 1340. The Seymours apparently occupied the manor until the second half of the 14th century when the Manor, with 5 1/2 virgates in demesne of 26 acres was forfeit to the crown. At this time Bridges mentions the property consisting of the manor, township and a large grange and garden, the latter being conveyed separately by John de Seymour at the door of his manor in 1349. In 1410 the property passed to the Greens’ of Greens Norton by their marriage into the Seymour family. Thomas Nicholls bought the property from the Greens of Drayton in 1567 who apparently soon initiated the major rebuilding, for his arms appear over the great fireplace in the solar and on the external bow window, although he died shortly after and the work was probably carried through by his father, William Nicholls who died in 1596 aged 96. John, Lord Maudaunt, succeeded to the property in 1608 and in 1628 was created Earl of Peterborough. An estate map of 1587 illustrates a complex house with a fine adjoining knot garden.

{12} A building survey was undertaken of the late 18th, 19th and 20th century extension on the eastern side of the building prior to its demolition. The building recording and subsequent archaeological observation undertaken during excavation of foundations for a new extension, indicated that a single-storey thatched extension was built in the late 18th century. In 1887 a second storey was added. The range was rendered probably to disguise the mismatched brickwork. Minor work comprised the addition of a porch in the early 20th century and a shower/toilet extension in the 1960s. A stone fondation with associated piece of 15th century pottery may be evidence of an earlier phase of building, although the narrow width of the trench limited detailed interpretation.

{15} Undated photo, also photo dated July 1985.

{16} The house is as described above - see photo's. The ponds, obviously associated with the manor, comprise a strip of three, the centre one waterfilled. Published survey (25") revised.

{17} No change. Published survey (25") 1969 correct.

Historic England, Undated, Hardwick Manor House, Hardwick, BF044029; BF097317 (Archive). SNN115824.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 4/180 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G05 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN100394.

<3> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.246 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<4> Gotch J.A., 1939, Squires' Homes and Other Old Buildings of Northamptonshire, p.29 (unchecked) (Book). SNN39616.

<5> Heward J.; Taylor R., 1996, The Country Houses of Northamptonshire, p.231-5 (checked) (Book). SNN41757.

<6> 1587, Map of Hardwick, (unchecked) (Map). SNN47295.

<7> RCHME, 1995, Manor Farm, Hardwick, (checked) (Photographic prints (B&W)). SNN101302.

<8> Woodfield P., 1981, The Larger Medieval Houses of Northamptonshire, 16/171 (checked) (Article). SNN23550.

<9> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.98-106 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77326.

<10> Chapman, A., 1996, Manor Farm, Hardwick, Northamptonshire Archaeological Evaluation Stage 1: Desktop Assessment, (checked) (Report). SNN72411.

<11> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, P.595-99 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100369.

<12> Salzman L.F.(ed), 1937, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.175 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100371.

<13> Wolframm-Murray Y., 2018, Archaeological observation of works and historic building recording at Manor House, Manor Farm, Hardwick, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN111535.

<14> Crank, N. (Editor), 2019, South Midlands Archaeology (49), p. 77-8 (Journal). SNN111755.

<15> Photographs of buildings in Hardwick (Photographs). SNN112558.

<16> Seaman, BH, 1968, Field investigators comments, F1 BHS 29-MAR-68 (Notes). SNN115823.

<17> Colquhoun, FD, 1970, Field Investigator's Comments, F2 FDC 25-AUG-70 (Notes). SNN111540.

Record last edited

Oct 24 2024 11:49AM