Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 16/01/2013

TL 11 SW
5/83
19.10.53

HARPENDEN RURAL
HATCHING GREEN
(west side)
Rothamsted Manor House

(Formerly listed as Rothampsted)

GV
I

Large manor house, now a hall of residence. Largely mid-C17
(payments for bricks 1648/9, 1653) for Sir John Wittewronge.
Some C16 timber frame inside. Extended on NW for SirJohn Bennet
Lawes in 1863. Interiors remodelled for Sir C.B. Lawes-
Wittewronge c.1900-10. Dark red brick. Plain tile roofs. The
C17 house is F-plan, the long part being the S range. The 2
wings on the NW had the recess between them enclosed in 1863 when
the W range was extended by 2 bays. 2 storeys and attics. S
range is double pile. 9 broad mullioned and transomed casements,
all with original oak frames and leaded lights. Square 3-
storeyed central porch-tower, flanked on the 1st floor by 1-
window recesses. The 2 bays either side have wide shaped attic
gables, the outer ones wider. Scrolled brick sides. Triangular
and segmental pediments. Continuous moulded brick cornice.
Plain 1st floor band. The ground floor windows have segmental-
headed relieving arches. Doric style cut brick porch with
bulging pilasters and simple entablature. Original oak door with
moulded panels. At the S end is 1 bay of a loggia, formerly
open, and returning for 3 bays on the S elevation. Chamfered
arches in square relieving frames, the brick painted white.
Above the porch are the arms of Wittewronge in a sunken panel,
and at the top a C19 wooden and leaded Gothic style cupola. The
W elevation is 5 windows, the 2 large windows on the N a
remodelling of 1900 by T.G. Jackson. 3 elaborate cut brick
gables on right have scroll-shaped sides and pediments, the
middle one with Ionic pilasters flanking the attic windows.
Gable pattern continued for 2 1863 bays. Cartouche in centre,
dated 1665, was added in 1906. The E side forms an open
courtyard, partly closed by the projecting bay of an L-shaped
mid-C17 service wing on the N. This wing is timber frame with
red brick infill, but has a mid-C18 facade towards the courtyard,
with parapet, floor band and 5 C18 casement openings. Segmental
arch to carriage way, the outer side with timber frame and
adjoining C17 doorway. Main ranges of house have some C17
windows.

Interior: The hall has reused mid-C16 linenfold panelling,
incorporating a frieze with heads, brought from Clare, Suffolk.
Morning room to N of hall has stone fireplace from Rawdon House,
Hoddesdon; white and black marble. Former dining room to S of
hall has mid-Cl7 panelling with fluted Ionic pilasters. Beams
plastered with running motifs. Stone Jacobean chimney piece.
Behind panelling is a remarkably complete scheme of late C16 or
early C17 wall paintings. Small room at S end of W range has C18
or C19 gilded wallpaper with painted flowers and good C16 chimney
piece and overmantel. Large dining room beyond is in an
extravagant 'Jacobethan' style. Linenfold panelling to doors and
walls. Large central fireplace with black marbme columns and
rich overmantel. Library wing at N end added in 1910 by V.T.
Hodgson and incorporates the most elaborate fireplace from Rawdon
House: grotesque caryatides of satyr and nymph,overmantel with
scenes of satyrs playing musical instruments. Leading off from
hall is a 1678 staircase. Open well. Tall shaped finials to
newel posts; tapering balusters with arches between them. Walls
from 1st floor to attic have painted relief of balustrade.
Similar smaller staircase E of hall, also with some painted
relief. The Pink Room on 1st floor has fireplace from Rawdon
House with animal carvings in overmantel. Good C17 doorcase to
main 1st floor landing. Another fireplace in The Brown Room.
(RCHM (1910), Pevsner (1977), RCHM Typescript).

Listing NGR: TL1252613169

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Rothamsted Manor at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7370394

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

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)