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Summary

16th century manor house substantially rebuilt in 1872 but incorporating older fragments

Monument Types

• COUNTRY HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)
• COURTYARD HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)
• MANOR HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

• SHINE: Standon Lordship, Medieval Manorial Site
• Listed Building (II*) 1/23
• Listed Building (II*) 160998: STANDON LORDSHIP WEST, AND STANDON LORDSHIP EAST (ON WEST BACK OF RIVER RIB 1 KILOMETRE SOUTH OF STANDON VILLAGE)

Full description

Following the Dissolution, Ralph Sadleir was granted the manor of Standon (Standon Lordship) [10032] <1>. In 1539 he received Thomas Cromwell at Standon, suggesting that the existing house was still in respectably good repair <2>. In 1546 Sadleir’s steward built a new house for him on this site, reputedly on a much larger scale than he wished <1>, and containing more than 40 rooms and a chapel <3>. This house was kept in ‘tolerable’ repair until the sale of the manor in 1822, when it was allowed to fall into ‘utter ruin’ <3>. An engraving of c.1700 and a plan made shortly before demolition in the 19th century have survived <2, 9> and show a courtyard style house of a principal range with 2 wings, the main entrance of the W range being flanked by semi-octagonal turrets. The S (hall) range featured a datestone incorporating Sadleir’s initials (reset in the modern SE wing) <4>. The E range is on a slightly different alignment and suggests more than one phase of construction <1>.

The house was substantially rebuilt in 1872, incorporating fragments of the Tudor house. The most substantial remains belong to the W range, and include remnants of the gateway, which has been enclosed to form an entrance hall with truncated turrets, and a portion to the south enlarged and rebuilt to form a hunting lodge for the 2nd Duke of Wellington. Foundations of the N, E and S ranges have been located between the present buildings and the river, and include the remains of the semi-underground service rooms to the hall (S range) <2>. Some internal features were retained, such as moulded 4-centred arched stone fire surrounds, although the building underwent extensive renovation in 1927 following a fire <4>.

The 16th century house is shown on the 1839 tithe map <6>. By then it was apparently much smaller than the 1872 house, implying the loss of the courtyard ranges before 1839; see above, as it was allowed to fall into disrepair after 1822. The 1879 OS map, however, shows the enlarged house built in 1872 and details of the gardens. The north range of the courtyard house evidently survived, and the courtyard itself was laid out as a formal garden immediately east of the 1872 house. By 1897 <8> most of the north range had been demolished.

For the surviving 16th century garden walls and outhouse immediately south of the house, see [30297]. See also [10305].

<1> Page, W (ed.), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire vol.3, - p353 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2329.

<2> Smith, J T, 1993, Hertfordshire houses: selective inventory, - p173-4 (Bibliographic reference). SHT16660.

<3> Cussans, John Edwin, 1879-81, History of Hertfordshire vol 3, - p170 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2794.

<4> Listed Buildings description (Digital archive). SHT6690.

<5> Burton, E, 1906, Standon Lordship; Trans East Herts Archaeol Soc 3/2, 140-8 (Article in serial). SHT8108.

<6> Tithe map and award, Standon, 1839 (map) (Cartographic material). SHT1377.

<7> OS 25 inch map, 1st edition, 1879 (Cartographic material). SHT8116.

<8> OS 25 inch map, 2nd edition (1897-1901), 1897 (Cartographic material). SHT8113.

<9> Rowe, Anne, & Williamson, Tom, 2006, The history of the park and gardens at Standon Lordship (Unpublished document). SHT16743.

Sources and further reading

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