Woodford House And Attached Cottages And Outbuildings

Woodford House is a country house, probably dating from the mid-18th century, and extensively remodelled and extended in 1813 (marked by a datestone) for Charles Arbuthnot MP, with further extensions around 1900 for the Plevens family. It is constructed of squared, coursed lias and limestone ashlar, with a slate roof.

The house has a double-depth plan and two storeys with an attic. The main front has a central range of four windows. A late 19th-century columned porch with a glazed door provides the central entrance. Late 19th-century sash windows are set within earlier openings, each with gauged stone heads. A raised string course runs between the floors, and the shallow hipped roof features dormers on the returns. Wooden dentilled cornices and brick stacks are at the ridge. A datestone is visible below the eaves. To the right of the main front is a recessed three-window range, likely added in the early 19th century, with French windows on the ground floor and plain sash windows above, all under gauged stone heads. It features a dentilled cornice and hipped roof. First-floor windows to the centre range and right-hand range have wooden shutters. An irregular five-window range, set back to the left of the centre, is in a similar style, with staircase windows between floors to the right. The first floor of this range is of a different build to the ground floor. A further range is attached at a right angle to the left, including a three-storey tower with a pyramid roof to the right, and a single-storey range terminating with a pyramid roof. An oculus in the tower, featuring four keyblocks, has a 20th-century clock face.

The rear or garden front presents a similar five-window range of sash windows with tall openings to the ground floor, and a string course between floors. A late 19th-century polygonal conservatory, constructed with ashlar piers between sash window openings, is centrally positioned. A circa 1900 billiards room is attached to the right, with a polygonal end in a matching style. Former stables, now attached to the left of the entrance front, have been converted into two cottages and outbuildings.

Inside, the entrance hall features an 18th-century style staircase with turned balusters, likely dating from the circa 1900 remodelling. A similar secondary staircase is located to the left. The "Duke's Drawing Room", situated at the far right of the entrance hall, has a moulded plaster ceiling. Other rooms have moulded cornices. The Duke of Wellington was a frequent guest of the Arbuthnot family, and a three-bay extension to the north of the main front was built to accommodate him, including a drawing room and study. He compared the surrounding countryside to that of Waterloo, and the Round House on Thrapston Road commemorates the battle. Drawings at Northamptonshire Records Office document alterations proposed by W. Martyn Meer in 1899 and landscape proposals by W. Innes Stuckey in 1909, although only some of these were implemented.