Monument record 3026/3/2 - Blatherwycke Hall

A country house was built by Henry O'Brien in 1720 in a Palladian style replacing an earlier manor house. The architect was Thomas Ripley. It was demolished in 1948.

{1} The house was demolished in 1948, but a detailed building contract from 1720 survives.

{2} Blatherwyke Hall by Thomas Ripley, was demolished in 1948.

{5} Trial trench excavation found substantial footings limestone walls and internal floors. One internal floor comprised an arrangment of horizontally laid square limestone and earthenware tiles. A rubble-filled backfilled cellar was also identified.

{6} Originally a Tudor building constructed in the C16th by Sir Humphrey Stafford. In 1713 (or 1723?) the Tudor building was replaced by a grand Palladian style mansion surrounded by a deer park of some 400 acres. It was designed by Thomas Ripleyand built by local man Robert Wright. In the C20th the family fell upon hard times due to the loss of their 25,000 acre estate in Ireland following Irish Independence in 1921. They could not afford to repair the major damage caused by troops billeted there in WWII, so in September 1948 the two surviving O'Brien sisters watched as the house was demolished.

{7} Geophysical survey identified a disparate sub-rectangular area 38m x 22m which would appear likely to represent the demolished core of Blatherwycke Hall. Further elements may include the base of the southern flight of steps.
A low resistance anomaly in the hall area could indicate a feature such as a well, or part of a cellar, perhaps backfilled with a more conductive material than the masonry demolition above. Areas of high resistance (R5, R6) may indicate surviving flooring within the house. A circular high resistance anomaly at R7 may indicate the rubble remains of a formal structure.
A large zone of magnetic intensity was detected over the suspected site of the old hall, probably a large spread of demolition rubble, the curved shape of the south of the zone perhaps retaining the profile of the south front of the house. This can be matched to some degree to the eastern service pavilion detected in the resistance survey. A highly magnetic anomaly (G1) central to the position of the eastern service pavilion would appear to be the base of a fireplace, the chimney of which can be seen in illustrations. Similar anomalies in the main hall area may similarly result from fireplaces. However following the complete destruction of the three storeyed building these features are unlikely to be located near to their original positions.
T5 revealed the substantial footings of an east-west aligned limestone built wall (510) with a solid mortar and limestone foundation (511) within the northern part of the trench.
T6 recovered a limestone-built foundation wall (608) with a substantial stone and mortar foundation (610). The limestone wall was abutted (to the south) by an internal floor comprising an arrangment of horizontally laid square limestone and earthenware tiles (607). This was bounded on the northern [southern!] side by the remains of a rubble-filled cellar(604) enclosed by a limestone wall and an internal brick wall division. At the east end of T9 two north-south aligned wall foundations were revealed (903, 904), both made of limestone.
Geophysical survey has been successful in suggesting a plan of the hall, earth resistance surprisingly penetrating the deep overburden of rubble to produce a high resistance shadow of the house's outline.
The trial trenches were successful in recovering the northern, southern and western walls of the demolished hall under varying depths of rubble backfill. Surviving remains included the tiled floor and other features surviviing to a reasonably good standard.

{8} A manor house was in existence in 1319. Humphrey Stafford acquired the Blatherwycke estate in the C15th through marriage. In 1720 the eldest daughter of William Stafford, who was married to Henry, the youngest son of Sir Donough O’Brien, inherited Blatherwycke. They rebuilt the house almost immediately. The new house was built in 1720, to a design by Thomas Ripley of London. More detail of C18th house is given.

{9} The manor and town of Blatherwyke are now in the hand of the daughters of William Stafford Esq. The manor house is old and large but seemeth unfinished.

{10} Owned by Sir Humphrey Stafford, the house came into the ownership of the O'Brien family, supposedly descended from Brian Bora King of Ireland in 1002, and the Staffords and the O'Briens were subsequently united by marriage in 1699.

<1> Heward J.; Taylor R., 1996, The Country Houses of Northamptonshire, p.89-90 (unchecked) (Book). SNN41757.

<2> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.108 (checked) (Series). SNN1320.

<3> 1847, Blatherwycke NRO T189, (unchecked) (Map). SNN102449.

<4> Mowl T.; Hickman C., 2008, The Historic Gardens of England: Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Series). SNN106082.

<5> Dawson M., 2005, Archaeological Desk Based Assessment, Geophysical Survey and Trial Trench Evaluation of Land at Blatherwycke Hall, Northants, p.28-9 (checked) (Report). SNN108676.

<6> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 2010, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter (Vol.115), p.5 (checked) (Newsletter). SNN44153.

<7> Butler A.; Jones C.; Thorne A., 2005, A Geophysical Survey and Archaeological Evaluation at Blatherwycke Hall, Northamptonshire, February 2005, p.2-6 (checked) (Report). SNN107935.

<8> Prentice J., 2009, Archaeological Building Assessment at Blatherwycke Hall Stables, Northamptonshire, March 2008, p.2 (checked) (Report). SNN107969.

<9> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.275 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77326.

<10> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 2010, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter (Vol.115), p.5 (checked) (Newsletter). SNN44153.

<11> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1984, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton (Series). SNN77384.

<12> Historic England, Undated, BLATHERWYCKE HALL, BLATHERWYCKE, BF061847 (Archive). SNN114599.

<13> Historic England, Undated, Plans of Blatherwycke Hall (Archive). SNN114600.

Record last edited

Oct 24 2024 11:41AM