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Summary

Conington Castle was the principal mansion of the Cotton family, but has now been totally demolished.

Monument Type(s):

• CASTLE (16th century to 19th century - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)
• GARDEN WALL (16th century - 1501 AD to 1600 AD)

Full description

S2, Conington Castle, house 70 yards SW of the church, is of three storeys; the walls are of cornbrash, Ketton and some Barnack stone; the roofs are covered with slate. The house is of irregular L-shaped plan with the wings extending towards the E and S. The S wing is probably of mid C16 date. The E wing was built at the beginning of the C17 by Sir Robert Cotton who also refaced the E side of the S wing. It is said that he had a grant of materials from the destroyed castle buildings of Fotheringhay. In the C19 the house was extensively altered and partly rebuilt, the porch was removed from the E side of the house and re-erected on the W side, a storey was added to the S wing reconstructed internally and the upper part rebuilt, and additions made in the angle between the wings. To the E of the house is a garden wall, partly built of C16 date. Condition Good, much altered.

S3, Mansion dating from middle of C16, with addition and alterations of the beginning of C17 made by Sir Robert Cotton. Between 1803 and 1815 the Castle was restored by Cockerell and the grounds laid out by Lapidge (an employee of "Capability" Brown). In 1798 a stone octagonal summer house was built at either end of the terrace which bound the formal gardens to the north of the house.

S4, Conington Castle has been totally demolished. It was the principal mansion of the Cotton Family, built mostly by Sir Robert early in the C17. The church monuments remain as a family memorial.

S5. This 16th century house for Sir Robert Cotton (1586-1631) stood in parkland with an entrance lodge and gates along the Great North Road. It was visited by Ben Jonson who described the house as "one of his favourite country houses". Between 1803 and 1815 the castle was restored by Cockerell and the grounds laid out by Lapidge. The undulating parkland is crossed by a stream flowing E. with several footbridges. The drive from the entrance lodge passes across the stream to the S.W. corner of the Castle. To the E. are stables which from a court with a central lawn. Further to the E. in a depression in the ground, S. of Church Lane, was an extensive walled kitchen garden, with a long rectangular fish pond along the S. wall, and shrubberies either side of the stream S. of the pond. The formal gardens were to the N. of the house and bounded by a raised terrace walk. In 1798 stone octagonal summer houses were built at either end S. of this terrace in which Sir Robert Cotton placed antique stones, and a further fish pond was made in the lawns. To the N.E. of the park is an ice house on a moated site. The fishpond and kitchen garden to the E. no longer exist.

6-7. Site of Conington Castle, a three storey, stone-built house which was demolished in 1953. The house was roughly L-shaped in plan, with wings to the south and east. The south wing was probably mid 16th century in date, while the east wing was added in the early 17th century, possibly incorporating stone from Fotheringay or Maxey Castles. The house had fallen into ruin by the beginning of the 18th century and was partially demolished and converted into a farmhouse. Restoration work was carried out in 1800 and again in 1840.

1958, OS 6 inch map (Map). SCB16373.

RCHM, 1926, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Huntingdonshire, 63 (ill) (Bibliographic reference). SCB12619.

DOE, Aug 1946, DOE (HHR) Huntingdon RD, 2165/11/a, Aug 1946, 1/2A (Unpublished document). SCB16108.

Pevsner, N., 1968, The Buildings of England. Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Peterborough, 232 (Bibliographic reference). SCB11224.

Cambridgeshire Garden Trust, 2000, The Gardens of Cambridgeshire: A Gazetteer, 145-146 (Bibliographic reference). SCB21348.

<6> Page, W, Proby, G. and Inskip Ladds, S. (eds), 1936, The Victoria County History of Huntingdonshire. Volume 3 (Bibliographic reference). SCB14992.

<7> Emery, A., 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300-1500, Volume II: East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Bibliographic reference). SCB65462.

<8> Taylor, A., Castles of Cambridgeshire (Bibliographic reference). SCB19242.

<9> ANON, 1984, IN Records of Huntingdonshire : journal of the Hunts Local History Society Vol 2: 4 (Serial). SCB65463.

Sources and further reading

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