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Summary - not yet available

Monument Type(s):

• GREAT HOUSE (17th century to 18th century - 1601 AD to 1800 AD)
• MOAT (Medieval to 19th century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• CHAPEL (15th century - 1401 AD to 1500 AD)
• GATEHOUSE (15th century - 1401 AD to 1500 AD)

Protected Status:

• Listed Building (I) 1164802: Elton Hall

Full description

1. Elton Hall.

2. Moat (site of). The earliest portions of Elton Hall consist of a gatehouse and a vaulted undercroft, both of late C15 date, which formed part of a large courtyard house. This house was largely in ruins at the Restoration and was to a large extent rebuilt by Sir Thomas Proby between 1662 and 1689. During the 18th century many alterations were made and the house generally remodelled in the 'Gothic' manner, and in 1855 - 1856 the SW range was altered to its present 'Classic' state. The first house was surrounded by a moat, now long since filled up, indications of which, 13ft deep, were found in 1894.

3.The 15th century gatehouse has a four-centred arch, and two quadripartite rib-vaults inside, preceded by a shallow entrance bay with two quadripartite vaults placed across, rising to a middle ridge, each with its own apex. There are two tiers of two-light windows, and the top is embattled and strongly machicolated. Some of the chapel masonry survives, and also the Wend-gable and its pinnacles. The undercroft consists of two chambers each of two bays of rib-vaulting, the single-chamfered ribs growing out of the wall-shafts without capitals and forming tierceron stars. The bays are separated by four-centred transverse arches. Nothing is known for certain about the further extent of the house, although it can be assumed that the hall range lay north of the surviving range, separated from it by a courtyard.
Buck's engraving of 1730 shows the east side house to have been of seven bays and two storeys with a hipped roof. The house was remodelled by Henry Ashton between 1856 and 1860. A mansard roof with dormers was introduced, and a new three-storeyed extension was added to the north. A porch with two pairs of Tuscan columns on the east side of the range was also added. During the18th century, an ashlar-faced section with a canted bay window and outer staircase was added in the place of the chapel, above the undercroft. This part of the building also includes a canted bay window brought over from Chesterton when that house was demolished in 1807. A pair of 'Victorian Gothic' towers were added in c1870 by S Inskip Ladds and (or?) H F Traylen. The wall of this range includes two small Angels brought over from the damaged part of the Houses of Parliament after the Second World War.
The western range with the pair of round towers continues with an 18th century stretch of three storeys, undisguised, and then with Ashton's principal range, a doubling in length of the range of c1665. The dining room to the north of the chapel has three large three-light 'Gothic' windows c1860.
During the 19th century a service extension was added to the south east of the building.

5. The house was originally built as three sides of a quadrangle, with the hall on the north-west, the private apartments south-west and the kitchens north-east. A chapel was added at the south corner at a slightly later date. The property was sold in 1617, and most of it had been demolished by 1665. Only the chapel and the gatehouse were retained. A new T-plan house was built on the site, the chapel was altered, and an extensioned added to the south-west. Further major alterations occurred in the early 19th century, with four buttresses with a gable between them added to the south-west extension, the rebuilding of the north-west wall and the creation of two circular towers. Two rooms were inserted between the chapel and the gateway tower and the south-west wing was refaced in stucco with wooden parapets and turrets. The stucco and wooden parapets was stripped off later in the century and the wing was refaced in stone. A new dining room and staircase was also added at this time. An embattled tower was added between 1868-1872, along with a billiard room and new kitchens.

For Elton Park and formal gardens see MCB 186

6. G.P. AO/62/423/1 Gatehouse aspectfrom East
AO/62/42/2 Elton Hall S.E. face from South.

<1> 1958, OS 6 inch map (Map). SCB8962.

<2> RCHM, 1926, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Huntingdonshire, 80 - 81 (Bibliographic reference). SCB12619.

<3> Pevsner, N., 1968, The Buildings of England. Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Peterborough, 238 - 241 (Bibliographic reference). SCB11224.

<4> DOE, Aug 1946, DOE (HHR) Norman Cross RD, Ref no 2273/11/A (Unpublished document). SCB5149.

<5> Page, W, Proby, G. and Inskip Ladds, S. (eds), 1936, The Victoria County History of Huntingdonshire. Volume 3, 155 (Bibliographic reference). SCB14992.

<6> Colquhoun, F.D, 1978, Field Investigators Comments, 9/5/62 (Verbal communication). SCB60597.

<7> Seaman, B.H., Field Investigator Comments, 28/10/70 (Verbal communication). SCB61886.

Sources and further reading

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