Monument record 2838/2/23 - Probable medieval building, Apethorpe Hall

The remains of a pre-1400 domestic building pre-dating Apethorpe Hall were found in the east courtyard. The associated pottery assemblage was not of high status suggesting that this was not the location of the manor in the medieval period perhaps representing house(s) that were demolished prior to the construction of the hall in the late 15th century.

{1} Geophysical survey in the eastern courtyard of Apethorpe Hall identified a number of anomalies. A discontinuous linear anomaly in the approximate centre of the courtyard may represent a wall footing or perhaps just compacted ground from a former path. A tentative circular anomaly was found off-set from the centre of the courtyard. It is possible that it represents an earlier garden feature although the site was used as a film set in the 1980s that included the construction of a circular mock fountain. Modern service trenches are set at diagnoals across the site but it is possible that these make use of an earlier former garden layout.
Various other high resistance anomalies have been recorded. The archaeological significance of many of these is unclear but the strongest possibly indicate more solid remains, although only 2 seem large enough to indicate potential buildings, perhaps in the form of rubble or a compacted floor.
GPR survey picked up a number of linear anomalies suggesting some realignment of the hall and possible additional buildings (or garden/ architectural features). The GPR anomalies do not correlate directly with the earth resistance responses, perhaps lending further support to the presence of building rubble or less well defined architectural fragments.

{2} Excavations in the east courtyard revealed the presence of a building built before 1400. The stone footings of the west wall were 1m thick, sufficient to support a tall single-storey or a low two-storey building. A thinner wall at right angles indicated that the building contained at least two ground-floor rooms. The walls were robbed of stone after demolition and truncated by drains. Large pottery fragments dating between the mid-12th and the beginning of the 15th centuries confirmed domestic habitation on site, but the paucity of high status pottery suggests that it wasn't a manorial centre at this date. These finds tentatively support the theory that the early manor house lay elsewhere, perhaps closer to the church.

The existence of this building, and the associated pottery, raises the possibility that the road running past Apethorpe church once continued further south than it does today and that it was lined by houses that Wolston had to clear in order to build his new mansion in the late 15th century.

<1> Linford N.; Martin L., 2006, Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire: Report on Geophysical Surveys, p.4 (checked) (Report). SNN105977.

<2> Morrison, K., 2016, Apethorpe: The Story of an English Country House (Book). SNN110397.

Record last edited

Mar 24 2026 11:47AM