Helmdon Manor House
Has been described as a Possible Fortified Manor House
There are earthwork remains
| Name | Helmdon Manor House |
| Alternative Names | |
| Historic Country | Northamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough |
| Modern Authority | Northamptonshire |
| 1974 Authority | Northamptonshire |
| Civil Parish | Helmdon |
Helmdon Manor House, 7 1/2 miles south-west of Towcester, has large enclosures bounded by slight entrenchments. (Downman 1906)
Helmdon. At Domesday the Earl of Marton had four hides of land ... In the reign of Henry V there are three distinct manors called Overbury, Netherbury and Minuicourt. These manors passed through several intermediate possessors, and the manor of Overbury (the principal one) is now the property of the Provost and Fellows of Worcester College Oxford. Worcester College manor house, which has just been thoroughly restored, is now a farmhouse standing west of the church where there are large enclosures bounded by slight entrenchments. The other manor houses cannot be distinguished (Whelan; Downman).
There are no extant remains of the original Manor House which, according to local traditional information, was demolished 'early in this century'. Extant earthworks representing the manorial complex comprise a well defended homestead/manorial moat situated between two large banked and ditched enclosures, the whole situated on a slight north facing slope. The moat island is well raised having a maximum height of 1.4m above the now dry ditch which itself has a maximum depth of 0.5m; the platform is flat with no surface evidence of the former structure. The enclosures, apparently ditched fields, are also devoid of evidence of early occupation, the ditching itself being a drainage requirement. All the works are now under permanent pasture. The farm-house is a modern structure (F1 FDC 14-JUN-77).
Site of Manor House and settlement remains (SP 589431)
The manorial earthworks together with some fragments of former house sites, now mostly destroyed by modern redevelopment suggest a rectangular plan indicating the deliberate creation of this part of the village (RCHM plan).
A survey carried out in 1973 identified the shrunken village earthworks, especially around Manor Farm, where there are manorial ramparts and fishponds as well as the manor itself (Med. Arch. 1974). (PastScape)
Not scheduled
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | SP589430 |
| Latitude | 52.084228515625 |
| Longitude | -1.14184999465942 |
| Eastings | 458980 |
| Northings | 243080 |
