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Summary

A grade II* listed 17th century house built on the site of a Preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers.

Monument Type(s):

• HOSPITALLERS PRECEPTORY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

• FDR1569 - SHERD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FDR1570 - SHERD (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Events

• EDR1245 - Ordnance Survey Field Report, 19-MAR-74
• EDR1450 - Ordnance Survey Field Report, 28-AUG-66

Full Description

Stydd Hall was built on the site of a Preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers. Parts of the building are Elizabethan and are probably the work of Francis Colwich, who acquired the property in 1559. (1)

Three modern windows have recently replaced mullion windows adjoining the north-west corner of Stydd Hall, which remains outstanding. Condition - fair. (2)

The present house at Yeaveley stands on medieval stone foundations, but is Elizabethan or Jacobean. (3)

Stydd Hall is a strange tower-like house set in an eerie landscape beside the scanty remains of a former preceptory of he Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem. It was probably built by Thomas Colwich, grandson of Francis Colwich referred to above, who came into the property in 1580. In plan it is square, three by three bays, and is three storeys high. The flat roof once had strange cylindrical stacks (now cropped) and a projecting stair tower to enable people to have access to the leads, suggesting something more like a hunting lodge than a residence; nevertheless the Colwiches were always described as 'of Stydd' which indicates that it was at some point at least their main seat. Francis Colwich was taxed on a mere four hearths in 1664. At some point the Hall became a farmhouse. It was drastically altered in the 1860s, the rebuilding having much in common with the sort of work being done by T C Hine of Nottingham, who was working at nearby Foston Hall in 1863. (5)

The 17th century Stydd Hall was built on the ruins of a medieval Knights Hospitaller preceptory. Preceptories were the home bases of this crusading order and generated funds for missions overseas. Stydd preceptory was closed by Henry VIII and the site was acquired by landed gentry. The present hall incorporated the remnants of one of the preceptory buildings. The ruins of the preceptory chapel stand close by and buried archaeological remains surround the buildings. Stydd Hall later became a farmhouse, but its condition gradually deteriorated and it was placed on the first national Buildings at Risk Register in 1998. With grant aid and help from Historic England, the building is undergoing a programme of repairs and it is hoped that it will soon be removed from the Heritage at Risk Register [2015]. (6)

There is a black and white photograph of the hall that was taken c. 1900 in the Parish File (paper). (7)

<1> Cox, J C, 1877, Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. III, p 283 (Bibliographic reference). SDR11676.

<2> F2 DJC 19-MAR-74 (Personal Observation). SDR6549.

<3> Pevsner, N, 1979, The Buildings of England: Derbyshire. 2nd ed., revised, p 362 (Bibliographic reference). SDR12891.

<4> English Heritage, 1997, Scheduling Description: Moated preceptory, chapel and fishpond at Stydd Hall (Scheduling record). SDR924.

<5> Craven, M & Stanley, M, 2001, The Derbyshire Country House: 2, pp 210-212 (Bibliographic reference). SDR19744.

<6> Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk: East Midlands Summary (Unpublished document). SDR23646.

<7> Photograph Collection, Conservation & Design section, Derbyshire County Council, HER Parish File (paper) and HER Images (digital) (Photograph). SDR21014.

Sources and Further Reading

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.