Northborough_Castle
Northborough Manor House, also known as Northborough Hall or Northborough Castle Farmhouse, is a medieval fortified manor house, and Grade I listed building in the village of Northborough in Cambridgeshire, England.[1][2][3]
| Northborough Castle Farmhouse | |
|---|---|
| Cambridgeshire, England | |
The gatehouse to Northborough Castle | |
| Coordinates | 52.6557°N 0.2998°W / 52.6557; -0.2998 |
| Grid reference | grid reference TF151078 |
| Type | Fortified manor house |
| Site history | |
| Materials | Rubble masonry and dressed masonry[1] |
Northborough Castle was built between 1333 and 1336 by Roger Northburgh, the Bishop of Lichfield; of the original manor, only the gatehouse and the hall still survive.[4][2] The result, according to historian Anthony Emery, was "one of the finest" fortified manors in Cambridgeshire.[5] The gatehouse is dominated by a huge gateway, which, whilst it did not have a drawbridge or portcullis, provided considerable protection to the manor behind it.[6] The hall typified the 14th century fashion for improved lighting, with bay windows placed regularly along the line of the hall, and was decorated with wall paintings.[7] Some 16th and 17th-century extensions to the castle were made.[3]
The manor was sold to James Claypole in 1565, and sold to Lord Fitzwilliam in 1681. It was reputedly visited by Oliver Cromwell.[2] In the 1970s it was purchased by garden book author Roy Genders.[8] Today, the gatehouse is available for holiday lets, and the manor is open is visitors by appointment.[9]
- Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1126697)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
- "Northborough Castle", the Gatehouse webpage, accessed 21 April 2011.
- Astley, p.130: Emery (2006), p.174.
- Emery (2006), p.174.
- Emery (2006), p.185.
- Emery (2007), pp.50-1, 84.
- Astley, H. J. D. (1899) "Northborough church and manor house," in The Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol. 5 pp. 129–40.
- Emery, Anthony. (2007) Discovering Medieval Houses. Risborough, UK: Shire Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7478-0655-4.
- Emery, Anthony. (2006) Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500: Southern England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-58132-5.