Northborough Manor House

Northborough Manor House, originally built between 1330 and 1340 by the de-la-Mare family, later passed to the Claypole family in 1565, and subsequently to Lord Fitzwilliam in 1681. It is reputed to have been visited by Oliver Cromwell. The house is a significant survival from a medieval manor house, with substantial alterations made in the 17th century. It is constructed of coursed stone rubble with freestone dressings, and has steeply pitched roofs covered in Collyweston stone with gabled ends. The west gable of the hall features coping with leaf crockets and the bases of pinnacle or chimney shafts at the apex. The north front displays two tall, two-light windows with straight heads, blocked reticulated tracery, and a buttress between. Above these windows is a large, 17th-century gabled semi-dormer with mullion windows. To the right is an early 16th-century gabled porch with a moulded arch, and an original doorway behind with filleted roll moulding; there’s a similar back doorway through screen passage. The rear of the building contains some partly blocked reticulated tracery windows with a buttress between, and three 17th-century gabled semi-dormers above. A two-storey, cross wing is present to the west, gable fronted to the north with a crocketed finial and mullion transom windows, the south side exhibiting a hipped roof, a small gablet, and a large chimney stack on the west side. Attached to the north-east is a 17th-century two-storey and attic wing with an asymmetrical gable. Internally, though the screen passage is incomplete, three doorways lead to former rooms including a buttery, kitchen and pantry, each with crocketed ogee heads within ogee gables. The traceried heads of the windows were blocked when the hall was floored in the 17th century. The hall staircase features shaped slat balusters, with heavier, moulded balusters to the upper stage. The hall’s roof is a braced collar rafter construction with ashlar. Other internal features include moulded stone door frames, a moulded stone chimney piece, and two large moulded arches in the north wall, which appear to predate the traceried windows.