Northwold Manor Reborn: Architecture, Archaeology and Restoration of a Derelict Norfolk House

1 Northwold village and manors

Historic topography of the village

Note: in this and some ensuing chapters, references are made to rural parishes in west and central Norfolk. To assist the reader in locating the principal places, and appreciate their proximity to Northwold, a map is included (Fig. 2).

It is well to begin with an outline of the historic topography and physical development of Northwold village, coupled with an exploration of the relationship of the Manor House to its surroundings. Northwold is a village in south-west Norfolk, close to the county boundary with Suffolk, on the south; the Fens and Cambridgeshire lie a short distance to the west (Fig. 1). The parish is flanked on the north-east by the River Wissey, a tributary of the Great Ouse, which flows into The Wash at King’s Lynn. East of the village, near Didlington, the Wissey divides and a secondary or ‘back river’ runs close to the north-east flank of the settlement, rejoining the main channel south of Whittington.¹ The flood plain between the two channels is still known as Northwold Common (Fig. 7). South-west of the settlement runs the main road (A134) from Thetford to King’s Lynn (Fig. 3).

The parish, which is in the ancient Hundred of Grimshoe, incorporates two hamlets at its extremities: Whittington on the north-west, and Little London on the south-east. For modern administrative purposes the combined unit is known as ‘Northwold and Whittington’ and falls within the District of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk.² Ecclesiastically, St Andrew, Northwold, is a parish in the diocese of Ely.³ The population of the village was 1,094 in 1835 and 1,085 in 2011 when the census was taken, but is now rising.⁴ Having a near-static population, the physical character and social cohesion of the village have suffered less damage than in those places where a disproportionate amount of development has taken place.

Like many East Anglian rural settlements, Northwold is a ‘street village’, and the majority of the properties – at least before the 20th century – were constructed on or close to the frontage of that street, the alignment of which is influenced by topography, particularly the course of the River Wissey (Figs 7 and 8). In the earliest mentions of the principal thoroughfare, it was simply known as Northwold Street and still occasionally appeared as such in title deeds down to the early 20th century. It has also been called Main Street, or just The Street, although in 19th-century census returns the eastern half was designated as Crown Street, and the western half as George Street.⁵ The division occurs at the T-junction where Methwold Road branches off to the south-west (Fig. 3). Geographically, the orientation of the settlement is broadly north-west to south-east, although minor changes of direction occur along the route, and there is one double-bend. For ease of reference, High Street and West End are nominally regarded as the east–west axis of the village. The Manor House lies on the south side of High Street, directly opposite St Andrew’s Church (Fig. 4).

Fig. 3 Northwold village plan. Key to the labelling of streets and principal locations discussed in the text, overlaid on the OS 1:2,500 map, 2nd edn, 1905, compiled and modified from Norfolk sheets LXXXII.3 and LXXXII.7. Listed buildings are shown as solid black.

Fig. 4 Location plan showing the extent and environs of the Manor House and St Andrew’s Church.

Sources of evidence

Cartographic

Northwold was not well served by map-makers, prior to the late 19th century, with one notable exception. The earliest map of the parish was surveyed by Thomas Dons in 1787, and was accompanied by an unofficial parish census, that he carried out at the same time. Residential properties were fully listed and numbered, and it was doubtless intended that their locations should be similarly identified on the plan, but the key was never added (Fig. 5). The census has been published, but the map seems to have been overlooked. However, it is far more accurate than two other maps of the 1790s, described below. Thomas Dons was evidently a professional cartographer and talented artist, as his cartouche indicates(Fig. 6). He also features in his own census as a tenant at Manor Farm, and his profession is recorded as ‘schoolmaster’.⁶ The map shows every residential building, with a tiny representation of its front elevation; it is only the core of the village that concerns us here. With research, linked to the Enclosure and Tithe Awards, it should be possible to identify most, if not all, of the 104 properties listed in the census schedule. Meanwhile, twenty of those with relevance to this study have been identified and listed (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5 Thomas Dons’s map of Northwold, 1787. Extract showing the central area of the parish. Properties of interest for the present study are identified and numbered. 1, Northwold Hall; 2, Acacia House; 3, The Vineyard (‘West End Manor’); 4, Manor Farm; 5, Crown Inn; 6, Horne’s Farm; 7, The Beeches; 8, Sycamore House; 9, cottages (47–51 High St); 10, The Grange (former rectory); 11, Primrose Cottage (no. 44); 12, Linden Cottage (no. 48); 13, Manor House; 14–15, cottages; 16, Church House; 17, Cherrie House (8 Church Lane); 18, cottage (10 Church Lane); 19, Manor Cottage (59 School Lane); 20, Waterloo House. NRO: NRS 19117

Fig. 6 Cartouche on Thomas Dons’s map of Northwold, 1787. NRO: NRS 19117

Fig. 7 William Faden’s map of Norfolk, 1796–98. Extract showing Northwold and its environs. The blank areas within the common denote excluded sites of ancient habitation:

1, Hovell’s Manor;

2, Little London hamlet;

3, Northwold Lodge;

4, Northwold Water Mill.

Digitally redrawn map, 2005. Andrew Macnair

Next in date, is William Faden’s medium-scale map of Norfolk, surveyed 1790–94 and published in 1797. Faden was a notable cartographer and map publisher in his day, described as ‘Geographer to his Majesty’ (King George III), but there are distortions and inaccuracies in the plan of Northwold.⁷ A glaring error was his failure to show the prominent double-bend in the street at West End, where the medieval village cross stands. In property deeds, the location is often referred to as Cross Hill. Faden’s map nevertheless provides a topographical overview of the parish in the early 1790s, and is particularly useful for delineating the extensive common land, most of which disappeared when Enclosure took place a few years later (Fig. 7).

Fig. 8 Enclosure map of Northwold, 1798 (1929 copy). Extract showing the central area of the parish. Labelling has been added for Northwold Hall (no. 1), Manor Farm (no.10) and Manor House (no. 43). NRO Sca 2/206

Fig. 9 Ordnance Survey, first edition Old Series one-inch map of Norfolk. Annotated extract from the 1970 reprint, sheet 45. Key: 1, Northwold Hall; 2, ‘Manby’s turret’ (windmill); 3, Wellington Lodge; 3a, Wellington tower(?); 4, Northwold Lodge; 5, Foulden Hall; 6, Didlington Hall; 7, Falconer’s Lodge. David and Charles Ltd

Fig. 10 Ordnance Survey, initial drawing for the first edition Old Series one-inch map of Norfolk. Extract from sheet 65. The map was surveyed in 1813, and there are many discrepancies between this and the later published version (Fig. 9). British Library: Maps, OSD 238

Fig. 11 Extract from the eastern part of Northwold Tithe map, 1837. The rectory was the only labelled feature; contemporary names of streets and a few buildings have been added. Note orientation: west is at the top. NRO: PD 373/51

Fig. 12 Detailed plan of Northwold village, as shown on the first large-scale (1:2,500) OS map, 1884. Compiled with extracts from Norfolk sheets LXXXII.3 and LXXXII.7. Ordnance Survey

Enclosure by Act of Parliament took place in 1796–98, but the associated map for Northwold is lost. Fortunately, the original was copied in the 19th century, and that in turn was copied again in 1929.⁸ The accuracy of the cartography leaves much to be desired, but the copious annotations and the information listed in the accompanying schedule are of singular importance (Fig. 8). Northwold does not possess any 18th- or 19th-century estate maps.

Individual properties, field boundaries and other details were first plotted and hand-coloured by surveyors for the Ordnance Survey.⁹ These plans, draughted in 1813, were the basis for the first edition, one inch to one mile maps of Britain (Figs 9 and 10). They were followed by individual maps for every English parish, drawn by surveyors for the Tithe Commissioners in the 1830s. The Northwold map was surveyed and hand-coloured by Lenny and Croft of Bury St Edmunds (Suff.) in 1837 (Fig. 11). This large-scale map is more accurately detailed than any other, prior to 1884. Every land parcel and property is numbered and details of it are recorded in a schedule, known as the Tithe Award. In each instance, the names of owners and occupiers are given, along with the nature of the plot or premises, and its acreage. Field names are mostly given, but rarely those of properties, streets and topographical features; historic earthworks and sites of antiquities were not recorded.

The Tithe map and Award, examined in conjunction with the Census returns for 1841 and 1851, allow us to identify the names and personal details of families living within individual buildings, as well as the trades and professions practised in the village. The first national census of England, in 1841, is sparse on detail, but those of 1851 and later are generally fuller. As we shall see, they have been of inestimable assistance in researching the history, ownership and inhabitants of Northwold Manor in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was not until 1884 that a large-scale, heavily detailed and coloured map showing the village was produced by the Ordnance Survey.¹⁰ This, and subsequent editions, published at various scales, are immensely useful for studying topographical changes (Fig. 12).

Physical remains

The developed core-area of Northwold is longer than that of most street villages, stretching from Hall Farm on the west, to Hovell’s Lane cross-roads on the east, a distance of 1.2km (Fig. 3). Typically, the opposing street frontages were not continuously built up until the 19th century, when infilling of the gaps began in earnest. Unfortunately, that trend continues today, to the detriment of the historic streetscape and physical character of the village. When one looks at a large-scale map, several distinct foci and building zones are readily discernible in the village’s topography. First, there are two nodal points, 0.675km apart. On West End, a pronounced double bend occurs in the road, where Ingham’s Lane branches off to the north; here stands the stone cross, probably dating from the early 14th century.¹¹ It would originally have been raised on a multi-stepped stone base, but that was replaced with a high plinth of rendered brickwork in the 18th or 19th century, doubtless to reduce the size of the footprint, which was an inconvenience to traffic. The base was renewed again in recent years with an austere brick plinth (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13 Medieval village cross. The head is modern, as is the brick casing of the base.

The second focus is the parish church of St Andrew with its majestic tower, dominating the village skyline (Figs 14 and 19). The church lies in the eastern part of High Street, on its northern flank. The building is Norman in origin, although the visible fabric is mostly mid-13th century, and later. Medieval churches dedicated to the Apostles – especially St Peter and St Andrew – tend to be early foundations, often pre-Conquest, and a church is attested here in 1086, in the Domesday Survey. There is a strong possibility that the primary church dated from the 10th or 11th century. Immediately east of the churchyard is a minor kink in the street, marking a former cross-roads, the southern arm of which survives today as Church Lane (Figs 11 and 12), but the northern arm was absorbed into the rectory garden in the 19th century and is now entirely lost.¹²

A clutch of Northwold’s listed buildings lies to the south and west of the church, including the Manor House (Figs 15–19). They constitute the core of the Conservation Area. Standing directly opposite the church, the house is the only building in the village listed as grade II*. Unoccupied from 1955 to 2016, it has undergone a ten-year restoration programme, after falling into a near-terminal state of dereliction (Fig. 20).

At the west end of the village street is Hall Farm, previously known as Northwold Hall (Figs 3 and 7).¹³ Although the existing historic buildings date from the 17th to 19th centuries, there is little doubt that the hall marks the seat of the principal medieval manorial farm (referred to in documents as the ‘Manor of Northwold’), and is an important archaeological complex. In the Middle Ages, there were three manors in Northwold, the others being Hovell’s and Dageney’s. For further discussion, see p. 23.

Turning to the eastern part of the village, the site of a medieval moated manor house is now sealed beneath the sports field. Before they were levelled, its earthworks were prominent: this is the site of the manor house of Hovell’s and is also archaeologically important (Figs 3 and 21).¹⁴ The four-way road junction between High Street, Hovell’s Lane, Riverside and Little London Road is a nodal point in the medieval topography of Northwold, formally marking the eastern entrance into the village: beyond it previously lay the common, which was parcelled into fields and paddocks at the time of Enclosure. Five hundred metres east of this node, Little London Road bends slightly to the north, and on its southern flank is the hamlet of Little London, which was an excluded ‘island’ within the common (Fig. 7). It is squarish on plan, bounded on the west and south by Little London Lane, and bears the hallmarks of a medieval or earlier earthwork enclosure within which the present cottages were built in the 18th and 19th centuries (Fig. 22). This is another area of potential archaeological significance.

Fig. 14 St Andrew’s Church, Northwold, from the south-east.

Fig. 15 Northwold High Street (formerly Crown Street). View east showing listed buildings. On the north are the War Memorial (grade II) and St Andrew’s Church (grade I); on the south, Primrose Cottage (grade II), Linden Cottage (grade II) and the Manor House, (grade II*), arrowed. The wirescape seriously blights the village.

Fig. 16 Northwold High Street. View west from outside the Manor House. The five buildings seen here are all listed. Watercoloured drawing by Ptolemy Dean, January 2024. © Ptolemy Dean

Fig. 17 Topographical setting of Northwold Manor. Aerial view, looking south-west from Church Corner. The red line indicates the extent of the Manor House grounds. © Alan Clarke

Fig. 18 Northwold Manor: High Street frontage, 2022. View south from the church tower, showing the principal components of the Manor House: east wing, courtyard ranges; link structure (low red gable); Stuart T-plan house; Regency west wing and new additions. For a wider area and more detail, see Figure 39.

Fig. 19 Aerial view of the Manor House complex and St Andrew’s Church from the south, 2023. © Alan Clarke

The same applies to the environs of Northwold Lodge (now confusingly mis-named ‘Northwold Hall’), lying on the north side of the lane.¹⁵ This too was an area excluded from the common on Faden’s map (Figs 7 and 22). The Lodge took on its present form after Enclosure, when a portion of the former common was acquired and landscaped to create a small private park of the kind that was popular in Regency England. It is a well-preserved example, and one of the major heritage assets of Northwold.¹⁶

Medieval village planning preserved in the landscape

South of the church, property boundaries and the lanes between them, exhibit marked regularity, from Hovell’s Lane on the east to the former Crown Inn on the west, a distance of 450m. At 70–80m south of High Street is a near-straight and continuous east–west boundary line stretching for the full length of the block. It was undoubtedly the rear boundary to the medieval tenements along High Street. The street frontage itself is now sinuous, with a pronounced northward swing in the vicinity of Hall Lane (Fig. 23). The positions and alignments of some buildings in that area still reflect the original, straighter course followed by High Street in the Middle Ages. Taking this anomaly into consideration, it is readily apparent that fossilized within the central part of the village is a rectangular block of land, approximately 450m by 80m, once laid out as a series of long, narrow tenement plots. The church and its graveyard, on the northern flank of High Street, lie opposite the mid-point of the block. This is no coincidence and bears the hallmarks of an act of medieval ecclesiastical speculation: i.e. the creation of a compact, planned development within the village.

Fig. 20 Northwold Manor. View south-west from the churchyard. A, in 2010. B, in 2020. A. Matthew Andrews; B. Author

Local topographical exigencies meant that the individual tenement plots were not all of exactly the same width or length, and some tapered in plan, but the average width appears to have been 15m. The number of plots totalled twenty-five, or possibly more. Fourteen of these lay to the west of Church Lane, and are lettered A to N on the plan (Fig. 23). Plot D is double the width of all others and almost certainly represents the amalgamation of two units. Plot E is the narrowest, and that is most likely a consequence of Hall Lane having been cut through it at a later date.

The Manor House lies at the centre of this planned unit, in the 150m long block of tenements laid out between Church Lane and Hall Lane.¹⁷ The property occupies a wide plot, but there is topographical evidence to indicate that two medieval units have been amalgamated (K and L). Although the rectangular walled enclosure containing the house initially occupied only two tenement plots, in the mid-19th century it was augmented on the east by annexing a third (M). Consequently, the northern frontage of the Manor House currently extends for 60m (200ft); the original depth of the plot was 80m (267ft). In medieval measurements, that represents 12 x 16 perches (a perch being 5.03m, or 16½ft). The amalgamation of plots is evidenced in the plan of the property and has left its mark on the north elevation of the house too, which comprises three visually distinct elements (Fig. 4).

Fig. 21 Hovell’s moated manor house earthworks, planned in 1884. There are also unrecorded earthworks in field 240. For the wider setting, see Figure 12.

Fig. 22 Little London hamlet and Northwold Lodge, as recorded on the large-scale OS map, 1884. Ordnance Survey

Fig. 23 Medieval village planning: evidence revealed by the 1:2,500 OS map (1905 edn). A regular layout of plots is preserved in the modern topography (boundaries emphasized in red) on the south side of High Street. The plots comprising the principal block are labelled A to N. The rectangular form of the graveyard, with the church neatly centred within it, suggests that it too was part of the planned unit, all of which probably dates from the 13th century.

Towards the west, the brick-built Manor House occupies 30m of frontage, and is structurally divided into two parts: the porch-tower and adjoining rooms on the west (16m), and the lower, symmetrical block of five bays with a central doorway (14m). East of that is a low, narrow brick structure and a ‘cottage’ of flint and brick rubble, together extending for 15m. Beyond those in turn, stands a rubble-built frontage wall with yellow brick gate piers, forming the vehicular entrance to the property; it is also 15m in width. Until c. 1850 this third (easternmost) plot was a separate property (M), occupied by another cottage, since demolished. The Manor House and the two separate cottages are depicted on Dons’s map (Fig. 5, nos 13–15). Although there have been some post-medieval encroachments from the east, the line of the original boundary between M and N is still evident along the backs of the properties in Church Lane. Between that and Hovell’s Lane, the plot boundaries are less well defined as a result of post-medieval development, but there were no fewer than another eight units.¹⁸

In summary, from the evidence of existing local boundaries and the dimensions cited, it is not unreasonable to conjecture that the current Manor House site represents an amalgamation of, initially, two and subsequently three, medieval tenement plots, each approximately 15m (3 perches) wide. The division between the two easternmost plots (L and M) is still strongly marked by a continuous chalk-built garden ‘spine’ wall, extending from High Street on the north to School Lane on the south (Fig. 24). Similarly, the division between the Manor House and Linden Cottage on the west (J and K) is still marked by a chalk and brick wall from High Street to School Lane (Fig. 315). Although now staggered and largely rebuilt, the boundary that separated the final two plots, M and N, has been archaeologically confirmed for its full length too.

Fig. 24 Manor House garden. Part of the restored chalk and flint ‘spine’ wall, running 80m from High Street to School Lane and perpetuating the medieval boundary between plots L and M. View south-east.

Although the boundaries between the fourteen plots are substantially composed of masonry – either in the form of garden walls, or the sides of standing buildings – the medieval divisions would have been hedges, ditches or fences. Evidence for deep ditches has been found during recent excavations for foundations and drainage: one runs just inside the western boundary of the Manor plot, and another runs beneath the north wall of the present building; this appears to have been a medieval roadside ditch.

Inevitably, over the course of centuries, some boundaries have been become eradicated or masked by later developments, but the evidence for medieval village planning is unmistakable. In this instance, the landowner and instigator of the development would have been Ely Abbey, a great Benedictine monastery owning much property in East Anglia. It also held the advowson (patronage of the living) of St Andrew’s Church. Moreover, there was a notable connection between the village and Ely in the person of Hugh of Northwold. He took his patronymic from his birthplace and entered St Edmundsbury Abbey as a monk, eventually rising to become abbot. In 1229 Hugh left Bury and was consecrated Bishop of Ely, where he remained until his death in 1254. It is highly likely that Bishop Hugh was responsible for laying out the planned block of tenements in Northwold, and if so, it must be datable to the second quarter of the 13th century. English bishops often founded new towns (e.g. Chelmsford and Braintree, in Essex, 1199–1201), or added speculative developments to existing settlements in the 12th and early 13th centuries. The function of such developments was primarily to boost episcopal revenue. It is possible that Hugh also laid out the present churchyard, which is markedly more rectangular than most, and the church itself is centrally positioned (Fig. 4).

The extent to which episcopal property speculations were successful varied. Some failed and the plots remained devoid of structures for centuries, although they are likely to have been used for agriculture or grazing. We do not know how successful the Northwold planned development was, and the archaeological watching brief maintained at the Manor was largely negative: no evidence was found to indicate whether medieval tenements were actually erected on the three plots. If they were, the houses would have been timber-framed and constructed close to the street frontage. Consequently, they would have left only ephemeral traces in the ground, which were easily eradicated by subsequent constructions in masonry, especially post-medieval cellarage.

Even if the remains of structures were lost, other types of evidence should survive. Although extensive groundworks have been carried out during the restoration of the Manor, the lack of any archaeological evidence for cess pits, rubbish pits or other medieval features in the garden or under the floors of the present house, points to little, if any, domestic or industrial activity on the site in the Middle Ages. The virtual absence of pottery, glass, and food waste in the form of shell-fish and animal and bird bones, additionally militates against any suggestion that there was long-term, permanent habitation on the plots before the Tudor period.

There is a little evidence to the contrary. A well-shaft or pit was discovered in plot M while reconstructing the septic tank (Fig. 143). The shaft was seen in section, in one corner of the pit that had been dug in the 19th century for the brick tank. It is surmised that the feature was a circular shaft, in excess of 2m deep, filled with dark loam containing charcoal fragments and a single sherd of unglazed pottery. The latter is very small and has no diagnostic features, but the fabric is compatible with an Anglo-Saxon or early medieval date. A second, similar pit was seen nearby, under the south-east corner of the lean-to outshut on the east wing (Fig. 40, G27).

The medieval planned block of land described above has been subjected to innumerable changes over the centuries. Thus, the easternmost plot (N), which ran alongside Church Lane, has been subdivided into four small units, all facing onto the lane; the central property (Cherrie House, no. 8; Fig. 140) is early 17th-century in origin, providing evidence of a date by which the subdivision and reorientation must have taken place.¹⁹

The westernmost plot in the central block (F) ran alongside what is now Hall Lane (previously School Lane).²⁰ It is unlikely that Hall Lane was part of the 13th-century layout, but was cut through at a later date to provide convenient access from High Street to what was then called Back Lane (now School Lane), and on to the fields south of the planned unit. Present-day Hall Lane may have been a late creation, dating only from the time when a reorientation of its adjacent properties on the east occurred. The situation is similar to that already described on Church Lane, but different in the sense that not just one of the primary 15m-wide plots was affected, but three (E, F and G: i.e. 45m of High Street frontage). From the evidence of the plan and dimensions, it might be argued that Hall Lane was created specifically to access a new set of three reorientated tenement plots, and was not part of the medieval layout.

The north end of the lane was subsequently modified to fit in with a change to the alignment of High Street. As already noted, the street swings slightly to the north here; it is not known what caused the deviation, but it certainly occurred prior to the early 17th century, since The Beeches was positioned to take cognizance of this, as was its mid-18th-century neighbour on the east, Sycamore House (Figs 3 and 25A). On the opposite side of High Street, Primrose Cottage, which is dated 1762, similarly relates to the reorientated street (Fig. 36B).²¹

It cannot escape notice that, 175m south of High Street, there is clear topographical evidence for a second east–west ‘back lane’, part of which survives in use today, but the remainder is represented only by field boundaries. It is first seen in the western part of the village, as Pinfold Lane, which makes a right-angled intersection with Methwold Road at a distance of 175m south of High Street; it continues eastwards as School Lane (Fig. 3). Close to the school, the lane swings slightly northwards, but field boundaries continue the ancient line on to Church Lane, where there is another right-angled intersection 180m south of High Street. Projecting the line further east, brings us to the point where Cross Lane runs into Hovell’s Lane. East of Hovell’s Lane, the alignment points centrally to the square moated enclosure that now lies beneath the sports field, but was previously mapped by the Ordnance Survey (Fig. 21). This moat was most likely constructed in the 13th century, to enclose Hovell’s manor house, which was doubtless timber-framed.

Fig. 25 Principal Georgian houses in Northwold. A, Sycamore House. View from the south-west, showing blind panelling on the gable wall and two trompe l’oeil painted sash windows on the top floor. B, The Vineyard (‘West End Manor’).

Fig. 26 Cross Lane, Northwold. A rare survival, this preserves the appearance and scale of a medieval lane. View north-west, towards the village.

At an unknown date, possibly in the 18th century, the easternmost 370m of the route described was abandoned and School Lane (previously, Back Lane) was realigned to meet Church Lane further north. Cross Lane was possibly created at the same time, cutting diagonally across two fields. It begins on Church Lane at the same point as the realigned School Lane, and meets Hovell’s Lane where a group of cottages lie (Fig. 21, plot 237). On the other hand, Cross Lane could be a late medieval creation, to provide a short-cut from Hovell’s manor moat to the church and core of the village. The positioning and narrowness of the lane are consistent with a medieval origin (Fig. 26). It is a significant historical survival.

Sites of the medieval manorial farms

At the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, the south-west corner of Norfolk comprised the Grimshoe Hundred, which contained nineteen villages. The largest was Feltwell, with 132 households; next, at only half the size, came Northwold, with sixty-four households. The survey noted that the village possessed a church, two mills and two fisheries. Two manors were listed, both held by William de Warenne. One of these he held from the Abbot of Ely, who was already in possession of it before 1066.

The history of the manors of Northwold awaits detailed research. In the 13th century and later, three manors are recorded: the manor of Northwold; the manor of Dageney’s, which took its name from Roger Dakeney, who was in possession by 1274; and the manor of Hovell’s, where William de Haville held the lordship by 1315. By the mid-15th century, the latter two manors were held in unity, and were thereafter commonly referred to as ‘Hovell’s and Dageney’s’.²² In 19th-century deeds the all-embracing appellation ‘Manor of Hovell’s and Dageney’s, and Manor of Northwold’ was used, indicating that there was still at least a nominal distinction between the three entities.

The Bishop of Ely held the manors of Northwold in the later Middle Ages, and each would have been managed locally by a bailiff on his behalf. The bailiff would have lived in a house on the demesne farm, surrounded by the barns, granaries, stabling and other essential buildings. The scale and opulence of the farm was often proportionate to the size and wealth of the manorial estate that it served. If two modest sized, adjacent estates had been combined – as seems to have been the case with Hovell’s and Dageney’s – a single manorial farm complex may have sufficed in the 15th century. Some medieval manors also served as rural residences or ‘retreats’ for their secular or ecclesiastical lords, with the result that a grand house or hunting lodge might be constructed for comfort and entertainment. Northwold was not one of those favoured places, unlike nearby Oxborough, where in c. 1482 the secular owner of the manor, Sir Edmund Bedingfeld, constructed the magnificent moated and pseudo-fortified house, known today as Oxburgh Hall.²³

Hence, in medieval Northwold, we potentially had three manorial farm complexes, and the principal residence at each could have attracted the appellation ‘manor house’. The first and most important location, effectively overlooked in the past, is that of Hall Farm, at the western extremity of the village (Figs 12 and 27). It is the only property individually labelled on Faden’s and Dons’s maps: ‘Northwold Hall’ (Figs 5 and 7).²⁴ Its associated title deeds of the 18th to early 20th centuries consistently refer to the property as ‘Northwold Hall Farm’.²⁵ It was undoubtedly the principal manorial farm, and its early history merits detailed research. In the 18th century it was owned by Henry Partridge IV, lord of the manor of Northwold. When the property was sold by auction in 1833, the published particulars described it as ‘formerly the residence of Henry Partridge Esq.’, but was tenanted at the time.²⁶ In 1834, the Rev’d George Thackery, Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, purchased Hall Farm.²⁷ It was one of the most extensive properties in the parish.²⁸

Outwardly, the present farmhouse appears to date from c. 1840, but the gault brick exterior encases an older structure.²⁹ There are several fine flint, brick and timber farm buildings dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, including barns, stables, granary, cartlodge and a bakehouse with a brick-vaulted cellar. Land to the north-east contains clear earthworks and has never been ploughed. The whole complex is archaeologically important and deserves to be listed (Figs 27B–29).

It can hardly be doubted that the medieval moated site in Hovell’s Lane was the initial seat of the manor of that name. The square enclosure, with its entrance on the west, and a smaller, subsidiary enclosure attached on the north-east, stood as prominent earthworks until recent times; they are carefully delineated on Ordnance Survey maps (Fig. 27C). Regrettably, the earthworks were levelled when the present playing field was laid out. The buried remains are nevertheless one of Northwold’s major archaeological heritage assets.³⁰ The buildings had all gone before the Tithe map was surveyed in 1837, and in the 1850s it is recorded that cricket matches were played ‘in the hobbles’ (i.e. within the moated enclosure).³¹

Fig. 27 Northwold manorial farms. Plans extracted and edited from the 1884 OS map, showing the layout of three building complexes, each consisting of a farmhouse and a group of barns in U-shaped formation. Purple colour has been introduced to highlight the domestic quarters. A, Manor Farm. B, Hall Farm. C, Waterloo Farm.

Fig. 28 Northwold Hall Farm, 2023. Farmhouse, south view. The gault brick structure of c. 1840, encases a 17th-century or earlier house. Two bay windows were removed from this elevation in the late 20th century.

Fig. 29 Northwold Hall Farm, 2023. 17th- and 18th-century farm buildings of brick and stone rubble. A, horse stable (rear view). B, cart shed (rear view). C, great barn.

The next most obvious location to command attention is Manor Farm, which lies 600m north-west of the church, and is labelled ‘Manor House’ in the census return of 1787, and similarly on the first edition OS map of 1884 (Fig. 27A).³² The present house is a multi-period construction, the south gable of which bears the date 1635, and one of the rear wings is dated 1807.³³ However, encapsulated within the structure are remnants of a timber aisled hall, confirming the former presence of a substantial medieval residence. The house, together with two sizeable barns and some small-scale farm buildings (all now converted to residential use), sit compactly within a rectangular plot, measuring 60m wide by 150m long (Fig. 30). Nevertheless, the appellation Manor Farm undoubtedly implies a connection, which is confirmed by the 1787 census, the property then being owned by Henry Partridge, lord of the manors of Northwold. The tenants of the eight integral properties were mostly associated with farming and rural trades. Thomas Dons, schoolmaster and compiler of the census, also lived in part of the main house. There is nothing to connect any of these people with the Carter family that owned and occupied our Manor House. However, in the 19th century, Manor Farm did come into the possession of the Carters. The site of Dageney’s manor house and its associated buildings has not been positively identified, but might have been Manor Farm.

Fig. 30 Manor Farm, West End. A, south elevation of the house. B, barns converted to residential use. View north-west.

As a result of the archaeological watching brief maintained during ground-works around our Manor House, we conclude that this is probably not the site of a medieval manorial farm: there is no evidence to indicate any substantial structures here in the Middle Ages, and since the south side of High Street was developed as a series of tenement plots, probably in the 13th century, that militates against the proposition. However, there is circumstantial evidence for a Tudor timber-framed house preceding the present building (pp. 252–3).

Another location that would repay historical and archaeological research is the former rectory (now renamed ‘The Grange’). It lies hidden from view, and almost forgotten, to the north of the parish church, and is a moderately large, multi-period house with extensive gardens and grounds, including a modern arboretum. The present house dates from the late 17th century, with 18th- and 19th-century additions.³⁴ The property occupies an irregularly shaped plot between the churchyard and the Little Wissey (or back river) to the north (Figs 11 and 23). Formerly, the rectory plot wrapped around the east side of the churchyard and contained ancillary buildings and extensive formal gardens, depicted on the Tithe map (plots 690–2, Fig. 11). Part of that area was detached in 1965 and a new vicarage house built upon it (now known as The Old Rectory).³⁵

It was commonplace for a medieval church and manor house to stand in close proximity, and it would occasion no surprise if such juxtapositioning once obtained at Northwold. The irregularity and sprawling nature of the rectory site is more compatible with the piecemeal development ofa medieval manorial complex over several centuries than the neat rectilinear plots, containing the present Manor House. In Tudor and later times many manor houses that were once in a close-knit church–manor relationship, parted company. A new house would be erected at some remove from the church, where it might command an attractive setting in the landscape, a more conveniently accessible location, or where there was ample open land to create a private park. The redundant manor house might then be converted into the rectory, or almshouses, or simply demolished.

Although it must be stressed that there is no specific evidence to link the rectory site with any of Northwold’s manors, the possibility of an early association should not be overlooked. Finally, it may be mentioned that a Georgian house on the south side of West End bore the name ‘West End Manor’ in recent times (now renamed ‘The Vineyard’; Fig. 25B).³⁶ There is no evidence to suggest that the name was anything other than 20th-century agrandissement.

Lordships of the manors of Northwold

Prior to the Dissolution, the Manor of Northwold was held by the Bishop of Ely, but early in Elizabeth I’s reign it was settled by Act of Parliament on the Crown. According to Francis Blomefield and later historians, the Manor subsequently passed through several ownerships, until it was sold on 8 June 1685 by Sir Philip Skippon and Ann his wife, of Foulsham Hall, to Thomas Holder of Northwold.³⁷ In 1701, Holder’s daughter and heir, Elizabeth, married Henry Partridge I of Buckenham House, Buckenham Tofts, now a deserted village site, 8km east of Northwold.³⁸ The Partridges were a wealthy family that moved into Norfolk from London and the Home Counties in the early 18th century.³⁹

Robert Partridge (d. 1710), son of Henry Partridge II of Lowbrooks, Bray (Berks), purchased Buckenham Tofts as their Norfolk seat. Henry Partridge III (1671–1733) was heir to his brother, Robert (d. 1710). Henry’s marriage to Elizabeth Holder lasted a mere two years, before she died, aged only 17. They had no issue, and Elizabeth predeceased her father (d. 1713). Henry Partridge III somehow managed to acquire the lordship of Northwold from the Holder family. He was a benefactor of St Andrew’s Church: the pillar-sundial and its elegant circular wrought iron enclosure, situated beside the south porch of the church, were gifted by him in 1713 (Fig. 31). It is surely no coincidence that he presented the sundial to the church in the same year that Thomas Holder died, perhaps to mark the occasion on which Partridge acquired the lordship of the manor of Northwold.

Fig. 31 St Andrew’s churchyard. Limestone pillar-sundial protected by a circular wrought iron cage. It was the gift of Henry Partridge III in 1713, the year that he acquired the lordship of the manor of Northwold.

Henry III is recorded on the benefaction board in the church as having gifted a close of land, called ‘Novels’ in 1703, the income from which was to be given to the poor of the parish annually on 28 January, doubtless to commemorate the death of his young wife.⁴⁰ Henry also gave the church a copy of Fox’s Book of Martyrs and ‘a small water-engine and five dozen of buckets’. This must have been the parish’s first fire engine; it was housed in a small building on the south side of High Street, just east of Church Lane.⁴¹

Fig. 32 St Andrew’s Church. Ledger-slab of Thomas Holder (d. 1713) in the chancel. He was lord of the manor of Northwold.

Fig. 33 St George’s Church, Methwold. Memorial to Henry Partridge IV of Northwold Hall (1711–93).

Holder is buried in the chancel of Northwold church, under a black Belgian marble slab, embellished with a large, finely engraved coat of arms (Fig. 32).⁴² It may be noted, en passant, that the combined manor of Hovell’s and Dageney’s also came into the possession of Thomas Holder, who died in 1713, but in 1738 Mrs Bridget Holder was still described as ‘lady of the manor’. This was presumably no more than the retention of a courtesy title, the lordship having passed to Henry Partridge III upon Thomas Holder’s death. Mrs Holder is mentioned on the benefaction board hanging in the base of the church tower: she gave land to provide an income to pay for poor children to be taught to read the English Bible, and for copies of ‘Bibles and Testaments’ to be given to children on leaving school.

Henry Partridge IV (1711–93) was the eldest son and heir of Henry III, by his second marriage. He was a Bencher of the Middle Temple and Recorder of [King’s] Lynn. In about 1736, he sold Buckenham House and presumably moved to Northwold Hall. He is buried in St George’s Church, Methwold, along with other members of the family (Fig. 33). The reference in the auction particulars of 1833 to his ownership and occupation of Northwold Hall must relate to a period that preceded his death in 1793. Henry IV’s grandson, Henry Samuel Partridge VI, sold Lowbrooks and purchased Great Hockham Hall in 1810. The Enclosure Award of 1798 names Henry Partridge as lord of the manor.⁴³ The lordship of Northwold passed down the Partridge family and was still in their possession in 1937, when they left Hockham Hall.⁴⁴ The subsequent history of the lordship has not been elucidated.

Although they owned various properties in Northwold, no evidence has been found to confirm that the Partridges lived in the parish in the 19th century. The fact that Henry IV was lord of the manor, resided at Northwold Hall and was interred in Methwold church in 1793 points strongly to the hall having been the seat of the principal manor of the parish. Moreover, the Partridge family’s acquisition of the manor of Dageney’s, and their simultaneous ownership of Manor Farm, Northwold, strengthens the likelihood that the two were connected.

One thing is, however, clear: the Carters, who were the village’s prominent family and inhabited our Manor House from the mid-17th until the early 20th century, were never the lords of the manor of Northwold, or of Dageney’s. Another historical channel must have accounted for the appellation of Manor House.

2 Architectural history of the Manor House: a brief outline

Until now, Northwold Manor has remained unstudied by architectural historians. Although mentioned in passing by antiquaries over the last two centuries, no significant description was compiled, or images published, and hence the building remained unknown to the scholarly world. Following massive losses of Britain’s heritage during World War II, the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 provided powers for the government to ‘List’ historic buildings and other structures of national and local significance throughout England and Wales. Implementation of the listing element of the Act required teams of suitably knowledgeable persons to be appointed and tasked with scouring towns and villages to discover and write brief descriptions of buildings that were ‘of special architectural or historic interest’. It was a huge undertaking and a regional listing officer finally reached Northwold in mid-1951.¹ The Manor was one of only three buildings in the parish initially receiving legal protection by being listed grade II.² The published description was neither fulsome nor wholly accurate.

House. Early C18 with additions of late C18. Brick with plain tiled roof. North front in 3 parts. Original house of 2 storeys with dormer attic in 5 bays. Central panelled door with 6-vaned fanlight and semi-circular hood. Sash windows with glazing bars and gauged skewback arches. Flat brick string course between the storeys. Moulded brick eaves cornice. Gabled roof with 2 flat dormers and sashes. Internal