Page 9 - Oundle Life July 2023

TRESHAM
TREAT
Lyveden New Bield
Lyveden is an icon of Northamptonshire. Found deep within the countryside, it stands as a tribute to one local man’s beliefs during a changing Elizabethan political landscape. The garden at Lyveden takes you on a journey full of hidden meanings and riddles, full of playful secrets to be found if you look for them.
Lyveden owes its unique history to one man;
Sir Thomas faced persecution as a fervent Catholic, at a time when Queen Elizabeth I was anxious about the Catholic threat posed by
Sir Thomas Tresham. Lyveden was the
family’s second property in the county
and in 1597 he began transforming the
estate with a new lodge and garden.
However, the history of Lyveden (or
Lefden, as it was known) dates back
far beyond the reign of Elizabeth I and
the Treshams. The earliest settlement
at Lyveden dates to the 10th Century,
and consisted of at least two villages, apparently deserted in the 13th Century. The manor of Lyveden was acquired by Sir Thomas’ grandfather (d. 1471) around 1468, and over the following century the Lyveden estate was expanded to include 120 acres of wood, 250 acres of pasture and 50 acres of meadow.
Spain and by her cousin Mary Queen of Scots. As a nonconformist, Sir Thomas was a target for persecution and the Queen imposed legal restrictions on the practise of Catholicism in England. Between 1581 and 1605 Tresham was required to pay penalties totalling just under £8,000 and was imprisoned for nearly 25 years for his faith. Sir Thomas began designing buildings around
Northamptonshire during his imprisonment, including designs for a garden lodge and garden designs at Lyveden. When Sir Thomas died
in 1605, he left debts of over £11,000, and all building work on his garden lodge stopped.
Lyveden’s design would have taken visitors
Lyveden owes its unique history to one man, Sir Thomas Tresham
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