Description

SP 8697-8797
8/106

LYDDINGTON
MAIN STREET (east side)
No 22

(formerly listed as Manor House).

10.11.55

GV
II
House; late C17 or early C18, incorporating fragments of an earlier building. The house was substantially rebuilt 1758-59; restored late C20-early C21; with late C20 extension to rear. The walls are of coursed ironstone, with quoins of Lyddington purple, ironstone and some Clipsham. It has a Collyweston slate roof and ashlar chimneys.

PLAN: this is a three unit two storey house with cellar and attics, with chimneys above the gable ends. The building is L shaped, with a single storey modern extension added to the back wing.

EXTERIOR: the main elevation to the west is symmetrical. Four semi-circular steps rise to the centrally placed front door (restored), which has leaded lights and leaded fanlight; there is a two-light window immediately above the door, to the first floor, and three-light windows to either side to ground and first floor. All the windows are wrought iron casements with leaded lights in mullioned and transomed oak frames. There is a cellar window with stone mullion to the rear of the main range. The roof contains three regularly spaced hipped dormers to the front of the main range, and one to the back wing; the roof to the rear of the main range also contains three modern velux windows. The roof has stone coped gables with ogee half pendants to kneelers. There is a chamfered plinth to both front and rear.

INTERIOR: the entrance hall has a stone threshold and terracotta tiled floor. A small window connects it to the dining room to the north. A door at the back of the hall leads into the corridor that connects the rooms to either side of the hall; the living room and dining room. Both rooms have encased axial beams, dados, cornices, and panelled shutters, the living room with a window seat and the dining room with panelling below the window. All doors are original and two panelled. The living room has a fireplace with a coloured stone surround with decorated cast-iron slip plate and fender. Carved into the wooden mullion of the window is graffiti dated 1759. The dining room has a Lyddington purple stone floor and an early C19 fireplace (restored) with reeded jambs and corner roundels, flanked by cupboards (restored), and recessed under a substantial bressumer with wide stopped chamfer. The bressumer has been raised on brick pads to support the north end of the axial beam. The east wall of the dining room is formed by a simple panelled wooden screen, with fretwork panels to the top corners.

Behind the dining room the corridor to the cellar divides the front range and back wing, which contains the kitchen. The kitchen floor has terracotta tiles, and there is a large fireplace with a bressumer carved to form an arch. There were subsidiary flues to either side of the fireplace; that to the right has a cast iron hob and oven. The plain panelled spice cupboards at the back of the fireplace and the window seat have been restored. The back door is of plank and batten construction with strap hinges; a small viewing door at the bottom demonstrates that the door was originally hung the other way up. The cellar is constructed using mainly recycled materials, including millstones on the floor and a ceiling beam with a wide chamfer. There is a small square well with raised edge cut through the floor.

The stairs rising from the main corridor are open string with square flat topped newel posts and turned balusters; around the landing is a fretwork balustrade. The plan of the first floor is the same as the ground, except that the back wing has been subdivided to form bathrooms. All rooms contain transverse beams, and all except the middle bedroom in the main range contain similar restored C19 fireplaces. The attics have been dry lined and ceiled above the purlins. The roof is of five bay construction with principal rafters and trenched purlins, with collars below the purlins; there are some carpenters marks, but not a full sequence. There is no ridge piece. At the north end the smaller bedroom chimney can be seen as a later addition to the main stack.

HISTORY: the house dates to the late C17 or early C18, although earlier fabric in the ground floor of the back wing, particularly the taller plinth in its end gable, indicates the presence of a building here before the C17. The house was substantially rebuilt in the mid-C18. The garden is within the scheduling of Lyddington Bedehouse (SM17156), a palace of the Bishop of Lincoln; the manor of Lyddington was held by the bishop until it was seized by the king in 1547. In 1551 it was acquired by the Earl of Exeter, Lord Burghley, who demolished the lodging and service ranges of the palace; these buildings extended into the area now occupied by the garden of the Manor House, 22 Main Street.

There is no known record of tenure before 1720. In 1743 the house was held by Edward Sharman, miller, whose family were to remain as tenants until its sale in 1876. In 1757 and 1758 Sharman drew up two separate agreements with the Earl of Exeter, the first for the rebuilding of the house, 'four rooms upon a floor at his lordship's expense', the second for the making of garrets and a cellar. According to the agent, James Hurst's, accounts, this involved the work of masons, a carpenter, slaters and a glazier. There is also a payment for bricks, needed for interior partition walls to the ground floor. The present plan of the interior, then, can be precisely dated, and much of the joinery detail appears to date to this time as well, particularly the staircase, doors and panelled screen in the dining room. This period must have seen the Sharman family's fortunes at their height, as very few significant changes seem to have been made during the rest of their tenure or subsequently (although a porch and modern conservatory between the back wing and main range have been demolished). Some internal features were removed and have been restored as part of the recent programme of work, notably the panelled screen in the dining room, while others, particularly fireplaces, have been replaced with reclaimed examples. The wrought iron casements with leaded lights have also been restored.

SOURCES: James Hurst, 'Agreement on behalf of the Earl of Exeter', 1757

REASON FOR DESIGNATION: 22 Main Street, Lyddington, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* The house is of special interest for its early and mid-C18 date, and for its remarkably intact exterior and interior, including its plan form.
* Original interior detail survives well, including mid-C18 joinery of quality, and earlier fireplaces with substantial bressumers.
* It is of special interest for its historical and archaeological relationship with Lyddington Bedehouse, although it did not form part of the original palace buildings.

Listing NGR: SP8750797061

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26530122

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.

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