Madingley Hall And Stable Courtyard

Madingley Hall and Stable Courtyard

Mansion house dating mainly from the mid and late 16th century, with alterations and additions from the 17th, 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. The building is constructed of red brick with burnt brick diaper work and limestone dressings of reused, coursed stone probably from Anglesey Abbey. The south wing is constructed of coursed limestone ashlar from the same source. Later work is also in red brick but without diaper patterning. The roofs are parapetted and tiled, with crow-stepped end parapets and shaped gable ends. There are end, side and internal chimney stacks with rebuilt upper courses.

The plan derives from a mid-16th-century house with a main east range containing upper and lower halls, a through-passage to the south end, and principal private apartments approached from a newel stair turret at the south-east corner. The kitchen, buttery and pantry were located in the south range. A significant late 16th-century addition was a long solar or parlour forming the north wing, which includes a gallery. The hall range rises to two storeys and an attic. Original stonework survives at the plinth and enriched main cornice level. The roof was probably raised in the late 16th century.

Fenestration dates from the 18th century onwards, comprising hung sashes with Ketton stone surrounds. The original entry occupies a two-storey, embattled porch with buttressing, above which is an 18th-century oriel window featuring an original carved stone panel and outer archway. A two-storey oriel window of 18th and 19th-century date contains reset 16th-century carved panels on the high end of the hall. The south-east corner stair turret has an ogee roof of copper and original brickwork and stone dressings, with some restoration and rebuilt or added upper storeys. The south wing contains later openings, some dating from the 17th century, and a jarderobe turret on the south wall. The north wing was altered in the 18th century, partly demolished in the 19th century, and its east end was rebuilt in the early 20th century; it comprises three principal storeys and an attic framed by projecting newel stair turrets. A late 16th-century loggia at ground floor is now blocked but was much restored in the early 20th century. Further additions were made in the 18th century, mostly in red brick.

The stable courtyard originated in the 18th century and was rebuilt in 1951, though the central hexagonal clock cupola of 1755 was incorporated into the north range. In the early 20th century the gardens were redesigned and terraces flanking the north wing were constructed. The former stables and coach-house have been rebuilt since the hall's acquisition by Cambridge University in 1948.

Interior features include a mid-16th-century newel staircase in the south-east turret, a contemporary hammer-beam roof over the hall range (reputed on documentary evidence to have been reset from Histon Church), early 17th-century wall painting in the murals room, Baroque ceiling panelling and fireplace in the saloon, and a circa 1724 main staircase in the north wing.

The mid-16th-century house was built for Sir John Hynde. Subsequent additions were made by his descendants. The house passed to the Cotton family in 1647 on the marriage of Jane Hynde with Sir John Cotton. In 1861 it was rented by Queen Victoria for the Prince of Wales whilst he was at Cambridge University; the Prince Consort stayed here in November 1861. It was acquired by Colonel T.W. Harding in 1905, who was responsible for much of the restoration. In 1948 it was sold to Cambridge University.