Barnwell Manor

Barnwell Manor

Manor house, probably dating from the late 16th and 17th centuries, built for the Montagu family, with substantial remodelling in the mid-18th, late 18th and early 19th centuries, and further additions and alterations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Parts were designed by the architects Gotch and Saunders, and internal remodelling was carried out by Sir Albert Richardson. The building is constructed of squared coursed limestone with limestone and lias ashlar dressings and facades, with Collyweston slate roofs. The original plan is indeterminate; the current plan is irregular with double depth. The house stands 2 storeys with attics.

The entrance front is composed of 3 gabled bays. An irregular 4-window range features 3-light and 4-light stone mullion windows with king mullions, all beneath hood moulds. The centre and right gables contain 3- and 4-light stone mullion attic windows respectively. Narrow single-light windows appear on the first floor to the right of centre and to the left of the gables. A 4-light window above the porch and a 3-light window in the gable above are both of late 16th or 17th-century date. The remaining windows are of late 19th or early 20th-century date. Evidence of an 18th-century sash window head survives above the study window, to the left of the porch. A central late 19th or early 20th-century ashlar porch features a square-head outer doorway with moulded stone surround. The parapet displays a central armorial panel of the Montagu family with flanking obelisks at the corners. The return walls contain 2-light stone mullion windows. The plinth is chamfered with a moulded string course. Ashlar gable parapets, kneelers and finials are present, with an ashlar ridge stack featuring a moulded cornice. Straight joints between the centre and flanking gables indicate different periods of construction, probably spanning the late 16th to late 17th centuries. A return wall to the left of the entrance front contains a stone mullion window at ground floor with an attic gablet above.

A range to the right of the entrance front was designed by Gotch and Saunders in 17th-century style. This range features a tall central gable and a bay to the left, with a large stone mullion window with transom at attic level. A smaller gablet appears to the left. Other windows follow a similar pattern of stone mullions with transoms. Ashlar gable parapets, kneelers and finials are present, along with ashlar ridge stacks with moulded cornices. A square armorial plaque of the Montagu family is positioned at first-floor level.

A range to the rear left of the entrance front dates from the early 20th century and was added after the Gotch and Saunders range, also in 17th-century style. This section features a tall gable to the far left with large stone mullion windows with transoms. Ashlar gable parapets, kneelers and finials are present, with ashlar lateral stacks to the right of the gable and adjacent to an attic gablet on the return wall to the left.

The garden front, to the rear of the entrance front, features a late 18th or early 19th-century centre range of lias ashlar with limestone ashlar dressings. Three sash windows to the right, with glazing bars, are set beneath gauged stone heads with keyblocks. A large polygonal bay to the left contains similar sash windows to 3 faces and has a conical roof. A raised band separates the floors. A range to the left was designed by Gotch and Saunders, possibly incorporating earlier work, and was modified in the early 20th century. This 4-bay section features a tall gable to the far left, with 2- and 3-light stone mullion windows with transoms and hood moulds. Attic windows have eaves dormers with gablets. Ashlar gable parapets and kneelers, and ashlar ridge stacks with moulded cornices, are present. Single-storey service buildings in a similar style are attached to the far left of this range. A range to the right was added in the early 20th century in the same style, featuring a tall gable to the far right with large stone mullion windows with transoms, ashlar gable parapets and kneelers.

Interior: The entrance hall displays 17th-century panelling, probably reset, with reeded pilasters flanking an archway to the staircase hall. A plaster ceiling features vine leaf decoration. A mid-17th-century painted panel bearing the Montagu arms is set into the panelling to the left of the entrance. The inner staircase hall is of early 20th-century date in 17th-century style, with a staircase featuring moulded splat balusters rising around an open well with half landing. The study to the left of the entrance hall has early 20th-century panelling. The dining room at the centre of the garden front features 18th-century style pine panelling, an 18th-century style fireplace surround and a dentilled cornice. The sitting room to the left of the dining room has 18th-century style bolection moulded panelling and a fireplace with eared and moulded surround, with a dentilled cornice. The early 20th-century drawing room to the far left contains panelling installed about 1938 by Sir Albert Richardson. Five inset painted panels, dating from approximately 1735-40, depict the Duke of Rutland hunting near Haddon Hall. The first-floor rooms of the late 16th or 17th-century entrance front contain spine beams. The attic above has a plaster floor. An internal wall of this range contains a late 16th or 17th-century window opening.

Barnwell Manor was probably developed as a dwelling by the Montagu family after Barnwell Castle ceased to be used for domestic purposes. It is considered possible that one bay of the existing entrance front originally functioned as a porter's lodge or similar service building when Barnwell Castle was still in residential use. It is possible that the two flanking bays of the entrance front were linked during the 17th century to create the triple gable arrangement. Building work was undertaken in the mid-18th century and late 18th or early 19th century, including the garden front centre range. The flanking wings were added in the late 19th or early 20th century. In 1913, the house was sold by the Duke of Buccleuch to Mr. Horace Czarnikov, who added the drawing room wing and carried out alterations to the service wings. A subsequent owner, Mrs. MacGarth, is noted as introducing reset panelling. The house was sold in 1938 to Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, who engaged Sir Albert Richardson to undertake certain internal remodelling.