Description

HUDDINGTON CP HUDDINGTON
SO 95 NW
6/180 (19/22) Huddington Court
29.12.52
GV I

House. Early C16, altered c1584. Timber-framed with painted brick and
rendered infill on stone plinth; plain tiled roofs. T-plan; main range
of four framed bays aligned east/west with rear wing of two framed bays
probably added in the early C17; original early C16 external sandstone
chimney to rear of east bay in angle with C17 wing; chimney has chamfered
plinth and paired circular brick shafts each set upon an octangonal base
with blind trefoiled panels; the upper and lower part of the shafts have
spiral mouldings and the central part has vertical mouldings and both
have octagonal concave-sided caps; there is also an external handmade
brick chimney with off-sets to the rear of the west bay and at the rear
wing gable end enclosed by a lean-to addition. Two storeys and attic with
dormers. Framing: close-set studding throughout; some large swept braces
across lower corners at first floor level; collar and tie-beam trusses with
closely-set studs and two collars. Windows are mainly late C16 and wood-
mullioned with leaded lights, several containing heraldic stained glass.
North front elevation: ground floor has a 4-light oriel window on consoles
with lean-to tiled weathering, a 3-light and a 4-light window with plank
weatherings, and a cross-casement; first floor has two 5-light oriel windows
which are transomed, one is supported on two large consoles and the other
on carved brackets with plastered coving, and also a 2-light window with a
plank weathering; one gabled dormer with 2-light window; the main entrance
in the lower hall bay has a late C16 gabled timber-framed porch with Ionic
half-columns on panelled pedestals; the wide entrance door is also late C16
and has all its original fittings. At the right side of the porch is a
leaded rainwater pipe dated 1715 with a large decoratively-moulded lead
trough at its base. Attic lights in gable ends; the east gable end has a
two-storey gabled bay window with 5-light windows on both floors and 3-light
side windows, all with transoms; the gable has scalloped bargeboards and
a moulded pendant finial. Interior: richly moulded ceiling beams, arched
doorheads and panelling throughout; first-floor ceiling beams are slightly
cambered to a central ridge rib and either side the ceiling is subdivided
by subsidiary ribs; the Great Parlour on the first floor of the east bay
has a moulded stone fireplace with a C14 stone frieze above; frieze composed
of four quatrefoils containing shields and enriched with ball flowers; it is
probably re-used from the preceding house on the site; late C16 open-well
staircase to west of hall has turned balusters; the newel posts are surmounted
by the Wintour falcon alighting on a turret up to first floor level and by
lions up to attic level. The attic storey of the east bay was used as a
chapel and has an ingenious priest-hole concealed in the panelling; there
is another priest-hole behind a fake stud and infill panel in the adjacent
attic room above the hall. The fireplace on the ground floor of the west
bay has a salt-drying cupboard and all its former cooking apparatus. The
house stands on an ancient fortified site that was situated within Feckenham
Forest; the inner moat of the former double-moated arrangement is retained.
A survey of 1650 suggests that the house was once much larger. It was the
seat of the Wintours, a Catholic family closely associated with the Gunpowder
Plot conspiracy. The house retains much of its original furnishings and
fittings. (VCH 3 (ii), p 408-9; BoE, p 61 & 199-200).

Listing NGR: SO9425057293

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Huddington Court at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q13586006

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House