More information : [ SP 7085 8704 ] Manor House [G.T.] (Remains of) Moat [G.T.] (1) The manor house of Lubenham was an ancient building, chiefly of stone but with a more modern brick south front. This latter part is now standing, the rest of the house being pulled down about 1774. Various rooms in the former house are described. The great staircase had the appearance of an addition. The moat, enclosing about two acres, was full of water until recently, though now only a small part remains in that state. Traditionally this was once a religious house. A motto over the entrance 'Deus hic' either preserved or gave rise to this opinion. Charles I is said to have lodged here before the Battle of Naseby: he is known to have spent the night in the neighbourhood of Harborough. The sketch of the hall [ AO:59:396:7 ] was drawn from memory soon after it was taken down. The plan [ AO:59:396:6 ] shows the buildings now standing (dark shading) and those that were pulled down within the memory of T. Reynolds (light shading). (2) "Lubenham - On the south-east of the village the remains of the ancient manor house stand within a rectangular moat 20 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep, with a rampart 4 ft. high on the north side. It is now drained ... A fishpond is to the south-west of the site." (3) "Manor House, Old Hall Lane, Lubenham. 19/2. Grade II. This is a mere fragment of a 16/17 c. stone house, repaired and modernised in brick and slated." (4) The building is known as Old Hall and is divided into two cottages. There is a cobbled yard underlying the front garden. (a) Old Hall is a rectangular building, two storeys high, with attached out-buildings. The south front is built of irregularly coursed stone with casement windows. The east and north walls are of stone and brick. The west wall has its lower part built of stone containing a blocked, stone-mullioned window with a moulded drip course. This represents the only fragment associable with the house illustrated by Nichols and is probably 16/17th c. The remainder of the present structure is an 18th c. rebuilding. The moat is formed by a deep, wide, ditch with an outer bank on the north and east sides. The west side is partly occupied by the approach road - Old Hall Lane. The eastern half of the south side remains with vestiges of a bank separating it from the river Welland. The remainder of this side and the southern half of the west side are not clearly visible on the ground though shown forming a conventional corner on the OS 25, 1929. It is possible that the course of the moat at this point was complicated by fish-ponds of which a small waterfilled remnant remains. The railway has altered the course of the river here and possibly obliterated original earthworks. In the northern half of the moat are depressions and banks marking the site of the major part of the former house; a few bricks and stones can be seen. The southern part of the moat is old rig-and-furrow, under grass. North of the moat is evidence of minor depopulation - SP 70858720 - and a large pre-enclosure banked field, misidentified as a Roman 'camp' - SP 78 NW 3. A 25" A.M. survey has been made. See G.P. AO/60/106/7 - 16/17th c. window from the south west; AO/60/106/8 - Old Hall from the south. (5) Part of the earthworks on the NW corner of the moat have been destroyed by the erection of a new farmhouse. A substantial counterscarp on the eastern arm of the moat has been surveyed at 1/2500. (6)
SP 7085 8703. Old Hall moated site. The square moat comprises three arms with a fourth believed to be infilled on the western side. With the exception of the northern half of the eastern arm, most of the moat is water-filled and 12-15m wide and 1-1.5m deep. There is an outer bank on the eastern and northern sides 0.5m high, and an inner bank on the northern side 1m high. At the south-western end the moat opens out into a pond which enclosed a small island 25m long. A bank 0.5m high runs at right angles from the eastern arm onto the moat island. Traces of ridge and furrow are visible on the south side of the island. Documentary sources suggests that the manor house was largely demolished in the late 18th century. The present Old Hall is excluded from the scheduling. Scheduled (RSM) No 17042. (7) |