Monument record 7045 - Cransley Hall Park

{2} Owner: John Robinson, Esq.

{3} Owner: John Capel Rose, Esq.

{5} The enlargement of the Hall grounds and the creation of a small park and fish ponds in the C19th led to the closing of the old Broughton Road and its replacement by the existing one, together with the removal of further houses on the south side of Church Lane, east of the Hall.

{7} Treswell’s map indicates several fairly large pasture fields including ‘Parke Leys’.
A comparison of Jeffrey’s map of 1791 and the first edition OS one inch map of 1835 indicates that a number of landscape changes had taken place during the intervening period. A new road pattern seems to have been established, with a new road across Broughton Common towards Red Lodge. Running from the south-west towards Cransley Hall a double line of trees is shown. These follow the line of the present bridleway and then head across fields. The road pattern between Cransley and Mawsley Wood was altered in a way that is not entirely clear.
The medieval manor seems to have been located on the same site as Cransley Hall to judge from Treswell’s map. The present hall was apparently built in 1677, with additions in the first decade of the C18th, though the VCH indicates that it incorporates fabric from the earlier building. It has a large garden or small area of parkland on the south side, with further possible parkland features to the north in the form of a large earthwork mound, which may have originated as a medieval motte. The parkland to the south made use of previously existing fishponds along the stream. These are shown on Treswell’s1598 map but may have been enlarged to become ornamental features. Treswell indicates that they were fed by leats, although these are not now visible on the ground and they are fed from the stream itself. First Edition OS maps may indicate a third pond just to the east of the easternmost extant pond. The parkland seems to have been bounded to the east by the old road from Broughton. The date of the creation of the park is unclear. It does not seem to have medieval origins and presumably post-dates the late C17th construction of the new hall. A brief survey of the area was carried out in connection with the English Heritage register of parks and gardens. Nothing of significance was found and it apparently does not contain information relevant to this study. In 1979 RCHME suggest that the parkland and fishponds were created during the C19th and this fits with the site inspection, which indicates that the planting is of later C18th or C19th date. No records pertaining to the park have been found. The park is of local importance and has not been included on the English Heritage register.
The late C19th OS maps show a layout similar to the modern landscape. Perhaps the most important change was the re-alignment of the Broughton to Cransley road onto its present position. The possible third fishpond may have been filled in at the same time and the parkland enlarged. In addition two estate maps were produced at the time showing the Cransley Hall estate. NRO Map 760 is a sale plan, probably to be sold for the ironstone beneath it as it contains a large amount of geo-technical data.

{8} In 1677 the manor house at Great Cransley was replaced by Cransley Hall. The economy of the area remained largely agricultural throughout the post medieval period.
The open fields of Great Cransley were enclosed by 1720, although some areas were clearly enclosed by the end of the C16th according to Treswell’s map of 1598. Estate maps clearly show the presence of Squire’s Lodge farmstead and Old Lodge Farm Homestead, along with the route of the Cransley Hall Park Avenue, which runs north-east to south-west. By the late C19th the avenue had been much altered and only a short section of it in the west appears to have survived by the 1890s.
The large garden/small parkland of Cransley Hall was enlarged in the C19th which resulted in the removal of the old Broughton road and a number of houses on the south side of Church Lane. Within the parkland there are a number of fishponds, some of which may date from the medieval period.
A flat-topped circular mound located in Cransley Wood may have been a medieval motte or a later landscape feature. The mound measures 3.5m high and has a diameter of 16m. It is surrounded by a ditch 1m deep. A partially filled-in trench is visible across the top of the mound. The feature is likely to be either a motte or prospect mound, the latter closely associated with the landscaping in which it was certainly used. It is not recorded on Treswell’s map of 1598.

<1> Bryant A., 1827, Map of The County of Northampton, (unchecked) (Map). SNN2733.

<2> Eyre T. (Revised by Jefferys T.), 1779, Map of the County of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Map). SNN1852.

<3> Evans J.; Britton J., 1810, The Beauties of England and Wales (Northamptonshire), (unchecked) (Book). SNN1351.

<4> , 1950, Ordnance Survey 2.5in Map, SP87 (unchecked) (Map). SNN54914.

<5> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.29 site 8 (checked) (Series). SNN77380.

<6> HYLTON T.; MASTERS P., 1998, Empingham to Hannington Anglian Water Pipeline, Northamptonshire Section, Archaeological Evaluation: Stage 1, (unchecked) (Report). SNN63049.

<7> Slatcher D., 1999, A Desk-Based Archaeological Assessment On The Line Of The Requisitioned Sewer At Mawsley New Village, Cransley, Northamptonshire, p.7-9 (checked) (Report). SNN100008.

<8> Grassam, Alexandra, 2008, Land at Great Cransley, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment, (checked) (Report). SNN106231.

<9> Treswell R., 1598, Cransley Parish Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN103920.

<10> Richmond A., 2012, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment: Land at Cransley Hill, Broughton, Northamptonshire, 2012, p.29 (checked) (Report). SNN108550.

Record last edited

Apr 1 2015 5:51PM