Monument record 1683/1 - Tresham Manor, Little Newton

The buried remains of a late 16th century house, with gardens and dovecote, situated to the south east of Newton. The house of the Tresham family, built in the late 16th or early 17th century and enlarged by Sir John Langham circa 1660. In 1715 it was known as Newton mansion and an early 18th century plan provides evidence for the layout of both the house and its formal gardens. The house was demolished shortly after 1720 and the gardens abandoned. There are no above-ground remains of the house which stood on a levelled terrace in the central part of the site, but buried features provide information about its internal plan. To the north, east and south of the house site are a series of neatly cut, regular terraces and platforms which are considered to represent part of the formal gardens laid out around the house. These remains reflect the layout recorded in the 18th century plan. To the east of the house site the north and east sides of what was once the Old Court can be traced, whilst to the south the general outlines of the kitchen garden and a small ornamental pond are visible. Further gardens existed to the north west and included one of two kitchen gardens, some walkways, and a stable yard. The foundations of one of the stable buildings, on the 18th century plan as the old malt house, are visible to the west of the house, although its northern end has been truncated by quarrying. To the north east of the stable is the dovecote, which is Listed Grade I. It is a rectangular limestone structure decorated with trefoil emblems on the eaves and is divided internally into two compartments, with approximately 1000 nesting boxes in each. Further earthworks are visible to the south of the house site and include a moated site and a sub-rectangular enclosure. The moated site is believed to be a garden feature associated with the house, its ditches are waterfilled and approximately 1 metre deep. The enclosure is bounded by a slight bank and an external ditch. Scheduled.

{1} Inspection of ewks; main breaks of slope still discernable within grazed pasture field though much degraded; locally reported that spoil (poss quarry related) was spread over western extent of remains earlier this century; pond has standing water and was cleaned out in recent years.

{2} Site of post medieval manor was bulldozed in 1971;(SP 886834). On the bank below the fine late 16th century dovecote ploughed out. Brick and limestone footings and a brick-lined culvert, with 17th century pottery, glass and pipes were visible. Below this are stepped terraces and a rectangular sunken lawn.

{4} Site of house and gardens, SP 855833, 150 m. NE of St Faiths Church. Manor house built by the Treshams late 16th to early 17th century. Enlarged by Sir John Langham after 1660. Recorded as built of brick and stone c.1720. Demolished soon after, though the dovecote - [SP 88 SE 22] is still standing. Remains of house in poor condition.
The gardens are shown on a plan of c.1715 and include kitchen gardens, a nine-pin alley, a dwarf orchard, elaborate knot gardens, fishpond and stables in addition to the dovecote. Parts of the kitchen gardens and orchard can be traced in surviving earthworks. The fishpond survives as a pond 2 m. deep. Approach roads to the house are shown on a map of 1717, and partly survive as earthworks or tracks in modern use. [RCHM plan and plates].

{6} At Newton the now isolated church and the adjacent banks and scarps all indicate the site of a lost village. The village did indeed exist, and at this place. But the earthworks are the remains of an elaborate garden built by the Tresham family in the late C16th for a new house there. Both house and garden were abandoned in the early C18th. Plate 2.

{10} The NGR given by authority {4} (SP 885833) is inconsistent with the plan and topographical description given by the same source. The NAR grid reference SP 886834 has been derived from the plan given by authority {4}.

{14} Documentary: post-medieval gardens of the manor house of Little Newton, which were first laid out in the 16th century;

<1> CADMAN G.E., 1994, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Note). SNN50014.

<2> SOCIETY FOR POST MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 1973, Post-Medieval Archaeology (7), 109 (Journal). SNN59150.

<3> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1976, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1975, 203 (Journal). SNN169.

<4> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.114/Site 10 (unchecked) (Series). SNN77380.

<5> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.322-23 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77326.

<6> Taylor C., 1983, The Archaeology of Gardens, p.8 (checked) (Series). SNN41440.

<7> Northamptonshire Archaeology, 55 (Journal). SNN58368.

<8> 1886, Northamptonshire Notes and Queries (Series 1), 2/No.216 (Uncertain). SNN29178.

<9> Heward J.; Taylor R., 1996, The Country Houses of Northamptonshire, p.282 (unchecked) (Book). SNN41757.

<10> RCHME Recording, Lee, E S 26-Nov-91 RCHME Recording (Report). SNN113778.

<11> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date), OS 1" 1834 sheet 44 (Map). SNN112944.

<12> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, A/P (RAF VAP F21 82/RAF/865, 0283-5) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<13> Aerial Photograph, A/P (CUAP AEV 46) (Photographs). SNN112974.

<14> Mowl T.; Hickman C., 2008, The Historic Gardens of England: Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Series). SNN106082.

<15> STEANE J.M., 1977, The Development of Tudor and Stuart Garden Design in Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Article). SNN69732.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 8:03PM