Monument record 3244/1/1 - Strixton Manor

Site of a medieval/post-medieval manor house and post-medieval garden. Crop/soilmark+Earthwork: Good quality photography. Excavation of part of the house showed occupation from the 13th to the 17th centuries. The rectangular earthwork was a sunken garden made in the 17th century

{1} Site of Manor House and Garden (SP 905616). A large U-shaped plan manor house is shown here on a map of 1538. Excavation has revealed continuous occupation of the site from the 14th to at least the 17th century. Bridges noted that the house still stood in c 1720. A formal garden was constructed in the late 16th or early 17th century, and earthwork remains still survive, along with traces of limestone paths. Later ridge and furrow overlie the N.E. corner and W side. [RCHM plan].

{2} Trial excavations in 1961 and 1962 showed that the sunken rectangle was a garden made in the 17th century. The ramparts were thrown up burying some medieval walls and partly exposing a medieval stone quarry. The area was laid out with crossing footpaths dividing it into four small squares, but later a circular garden was made in the centre, approached by a solid gravel path from the south. The manor house itself laid mainly to the south of this garden, although judging from the 1583 plan the Elizabethan north wing would have been destroyed by the construction of the garden ramparts. Excavation of part of the house showed occupation from the 13th to the 17th centuries.
Mechanical drainage operations on the main manorial earthworks cut across a yard and the south wall of the manor house. In the yard was a rubbish pit from which was recovered a considerable assemblage of 17th century finds.

{3} The manor was first recorded as belonging to Michael de Hanslope in the time of Henry I. By about 1190, William de Prayers became possessor and it remained in the possession of this famiyl until the 15th century. The Draytons were the next possessors until 1479, when it was owned by Thomas Lovett, remianing with them until 1585.
In 1564 there is reference to 10 messuages, 2 tofts, 1 windmill, 1 dovecot, 2 gardens, 300 acres of land 60 acres of meadow, 120 of pasture and 2 of wood.
By the mid-17th century the Alstons were the possessors of Strixton. In the late 17th century it passed to the Wiseman family and in 1737 it was sold to Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough and thus it descended in 1744 to the Spencers of Althorp. The manor house stood immediately south-east of the church where a rectangular platform and some low banks mark its site. The west half of the remains have been destroyed by a tennis court. The house is shown on a map of Strixton dated 1583 where it is depicted as a large building with a U-shaped plan, with a wing extending south-west at an angle. During the late 16th or early 17th century an elaborate formal garden was constructed to the north and east of the house.

Bridges noted that the manor still stood in 1720 although the gardens had been abandoned. It is mentioned in a document of 1737 but by the late 18th century it had been pulled down and the site had become an orchard.

North of the manor hosue there is a square sunken area, bounded by low scarps on three sides and by a bank on the north. It is crossed by slight traces of intersecting paths. To the east is a long raised terrace wall which extends south from the sunken garden to run along the side of the former house.

{4} Manor house hath an orchard of near 8 acres. Lordship inclosed 2 families. Present possessors - Wiseman.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 140/site 8 (Series). SNN77380.

<2> HALL D.N., 1975, A Group of Pottery from The Manor House at Strixton in Northamptonshire, p. 65 (Article). SNN76163.

<3> 1969, Journal of The Northampton Museum and Art Gallery (6), p. 22-34 (Journal). SNN9670.

<4> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p. 196 (Book). SNN77326.

<5> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<6> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date) (Map). SNN112944.

<7> English Heritage, Vertical Aerial Photograph, US/7GR/LOC334 V 5005-5006 09-MAY-1944 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112245.

<8> Oblique Aerial Photograph, CAP 8115/83 03-MAY-1953 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN111738.

<9> Environment Agency, LIDAR Composite DTM - 1m, 04-JUL-2006–03-AUG-2017 (Digital Plots). SNN111710.

<10> 1583, Open field Map of Strixton, 1583 (Map). SNN110602.

<11> Bedford Borough Council HER, Undated, Bedford Borough NMP, MD003015 (Archive). SNN113023.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 6:21PM