Page 12 - Oundle Life Issue 7 May 2021

‘By 1700, cross-windows with casements were rapidly giving way to sashes in existing buildings.’
Was this upgrade to the windows part of a larger makeover to the house which included the addition of Baroque-style stonework to the slimmer first-floor window above the central entrance? And sticking with the entrance, the small oval window above the door and beneath the pediment became popular in the 1690s, so its inclusion here supports a theory that the house underwent another substantial makeover c.1695.
For me however, the elephant in the room
is Cobthorne’s roof. I am unconvinced by
the style and detailing of the projecting eaves
as it wraps around the gable ends. With this detail Cobthorne is unlike every other local mannerist building. I cannot find a single example with this same arrangement in any
of my building history books or in any local towns or villages. Couple this anomaly with
the Jacobean windows, and the many other mannerist similarities to the Haycock, and I am starting to wonder if Cobthorne was already
standing in some
form when it was
heavily altered and/
or extended c. 1656
to reflect the later Artisan Mannerism fashion. The hipped gable detail being a quick and easy addition to change the silhouette of Cobthorne, thus creating the sense of an Italian roof in the contemporary style and appearing more ‘Hip’ (pun intended) to onlookers.
Without substantial research I may never know for sure, but it will surely nag away at me until I do. Can any reader shed more light on this please?
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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