Page 20 - Oundle Life June 2021

the Barnwell Estate
Accounts includes,
‘allowance to the
Parishioners of Barnwell
St Andrew for Building
Leonard Robinson’s
House in 1788.’ From this
we may infer that payment for land was made by the Estate after Leonard Robinson’s house had been built on church-owned land.
With its ashlar stone quoins, window and door surrounds, its shallow hipped roof covered in Welsh slate and its pointed Gothick mullioned windows; the new two-room house followed the very latest architectural fashions in London and was a very different style from any other building in the village. It was also a very different size; according to the Barnwell Estate Accounts from 1792, attracting the smallest annual rent in the village at just five shillings.
Again, tracing the rent records, it appears that Leonard Robinson lived in the cottage until 1800 when he did a house-swap with ‘lately widowed’ Elizabeth Cornwell who lived there for a further 6 years. I suspect as a widow she likely needed less space and appreciated paying
the lowest rent in the village. When Cornwell vacated it appears from the records that the house was substantially extended before being taken ‘in-hand’ by
the Castle for its own use whereupon it was renamed ‘Lodge Cottage’ – triangulating with the Estate Map of 1822.
I could go on at length, such was the richness and depth of my discoveries. This house has such an amazing story to tell. However, my word count here is limited, so I’ll have to leave you wanting more.
Joe Croser, first studied architecture in Oxford, and later completed postgrad research into historic buildings in Cambridge. Today he leads Oundle Architecture with a particular
focus on residential design and historic building conservation and refurbishment. www.oundlearchitecture.com
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