Boughton House

Has been described as a Possible Fortified Manor House

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains

NameBoughton House
Alternative Names
Historic CountryNorthamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough
Modern AuthorityNorthamptonshire
1974 AuthorityNorthamptonshire
Civil ParishWeekley

Boughton House. Great house. Early C16 origin, with extensive late C17 alterations and additions, including north range, for Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu. (Listed Building Report)

Great house, arranged around several courtyards. A substantial house stood on this site in the 15th century but no fabric dating from before 1500 has been identified within the present structure. By the early 16th century the house comprised a large open hall, two cross wings, a service court to the east and a detached lodging wing to the south. Various alterations were made between 1528 and the early 17th century but the majority of the present house dates from the period immediately after 1685. The medieval buildings north of the hall were demolished and a new north front was constructed, with pavilions to the north east and north west. The medieval ranges adjacent to the hall were restored and the east range extended to the south. A detached kitchen was built to the east of the house. Further work was carried out between 1703 and 1708, mainly on the service rooms, and in 1735 the kitchen was converted to a brewhouse.

In 1473, Richard Whetehill was granted a licence to empark 100 acres and crenellate a house on this site. (PastScape ref. Emery; Heward and Taylor; Pevsner)

Gatehouse Comments

Nothing survives of the late medieval house although it seems it was a great hall with cross wings with further service and lodging ranges around several courtyards. Nothing to suggest a moat. The licence mentioning 'loupes', probably gun loops is unique in English licences to crenellate (although the tannelatos mentioned in the 1540 licence for Hengrave Hall may have been keyhole loops). Gun loops do occur in late medieval houses but usually in the context of gatehouses. There is no record of a gatehouse at Boughton but one may have existed or may have been intended to be built.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSP899815
Latitude52.4243202209473
Longitude-0.67808997631073
Eastings489990
Northings281520
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 72
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 183
  • John Heward and Robert Taylor, 1996, The country houses of Northamptonshire p. 94-109
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus; revised by Bridget Cherry, 1973, Buildings of England: Northamptonshire (Penguin) p. 103-7, 110-114

Primary Sources

  • Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1900, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward IV. Henry VI (1467-77) p. 392 online copy