Page 19 - Oundle Life October 2021

During the latter half of the sixteenth century, courtiers and administrators were busily snapping up estates which, before
the dissolution, belonged to monasteries.
In Northamptonshire, the new ruling class quickly constructed the most remarkable residences to celebrate its new influence ‘in the hope of receiving the queen on her annual ‘progresses’ around the country’.
With new building treasures such as Burghley House, Apethorpe Hall, Deene Park, Kirby
And yet, with such giants of the period in this area, many more extraordinary houses built during the same period have been somewhat overlooked by historians; Grade I Listed Lilford
Hall, Boughton House, and Rushton
Hall, Northamptonshire was clearly the
place to build. Pevsner subsequently
described sixteenth and seventeenth
century Northamptonshire as ‘the architecturally most significant county
in England’ boldly stating that ‘the
history of domestic architecture in
England from 1560 to 1700 could be
written with Northamptonshire examples alone’. In full agreement, Mark Girouard described the Country Houses of that time as ‘power houses’ while Malcolm Airs described them as ‘prodigy houses’ or ‘noble palaces’ that were constructed on an ‘awesome scale’.
Hall just south of Oundle is a prime example. Occupying a little over 3,000m2, Lilford Hall is larger than Kirby Hall in both height and floor area of the principal apartments. As a more ‘relatable’ comparison, Lilford Hall would ‘lose’ more than 30 average-sized three-bedroom homes within its walls with space to spare.
First built as a Tudor mansion in 1495 for William Elmes, The Manor of Lilford has only changed ownership a few times since. Major enlargements were made in 1635 by Elmes’ great great grandson (also William Elmes) when the present Jacobean ‘palace’ was constructed
Lilford Hall is larger than Kirby Hall in both height and floor area
19
A NOBLE
PALACE
Lilford Hall could be yours