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Summary

Farmhouse of 19th century appearance but with 16th century (or earlier) origins, which took over the role of manor house from a medieval house to the east

Monument Types

• FARMHOUSE (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)
• MANOR HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)
• TIMBER FRAMED HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 162211: MANOR HOUSE
• Listed Building (II)

Full description

The manor house is Listed <1> as of 17th century date with an addition built in the 18th century and altered in the 19th century. The early part is timber-framed with plastered walls, the extension has a stuccoed ground floor and tile-hung upper floor. Other features include a double hipped plain tile roof and gable end roof on right, 18th century first floor recessed sashes and central door with four fielded and two glazed panels and continous c.1830 verandah with thin colonnettes and coved leaded roof <1>.

Examination by <2> has revised the date; the oldest part of the house is a north crosswing, of uncertain date but perhaps 16th century. To the south, at right-angles to it, the hall range may be a later replacement of an earlier construction. A wing south of the hall may be of the same date but, like the rest of the house, has no pre-19th century features <2>.

This was a fairly high-status farmhouse built in the 16th or 17th century, which appears to have replaced a substantial medieval manor house (the 'Palace') standing to the east within moated gardens [4057]. When the medieval house was demolished is unclear, but the farmstead was clearly associated with it and the farmhouse essentially replaced it (hence the name). The 1847 tithe map <3> shows the farmhouse within a small landscaped garden inside the eastern half of the farmstead [6295], with the lane, pond, parish church and moated gardens immediately to the east. Apart from the rectory, there were no other buildings here, and the farmstead is part of the manorial complex. The 1877 OS map <4> shows the farmhouse named 'Manor House' in lettering denoting an antiquity, and the moated gardens laid out as kitchen garden and orchard as well as 'pleasure grounds'. A short path led from the farmhouse into the kitchen garden. This layout endured with minor changes and growth of the trees until the construction of a new house (The Moat House) after 1945 <5>.

<1> Listed Buildings description (Digital archive). SHT6690.

<2> Smith, J T, 1993, Hertfordshire houses: selective inventory, - p46 (Bibliographic reference). SHT16660.

<3> Tithe map and award, Bygrave, 1847 (map) (Cartographic material). SHT1377.

<4> OS 25 inch map, 1st edition, 1877 (Cartographic material). SHT8116.

<5> OS 25 inch plan, post-war edition (1958-81), 1975 (Cartographic material). SHT8120.

Sources and further reading

Related records

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