The Triangular Lodge

The Triangular Lodge is a Grade I listed lodge located on Desborough Road in Rushton. It was built in 1593 and 1595 and features limestone and ironstone ashlar laid in alternate courses, topped with a Collyweston stone slate roof. The lodge has an elaborately decorated central stone chimney stack that also bears the date 1595.

This two-storey building has a semi-basement and a unique triangular plan, with each side measuring thirty-three and a third feet long. Each side displays a Biblical text consisting of thirty-three letters. The windows on the semi-basement are small trefoils with triangular lights, while the ground floor windows are designed in the form of a cross, featuring three circular windows at the end of each arm, creating a diamond shape. The first-floor windows are large trefoiled designs with triangular and hexagonal openings. The gables and windows of the two main storeys are adorned with a variety of decorative elements.

Access to the lodge is through a heavy studded door, which is reached by a flight of 20th-century steps. The interior is much simpler, consisting of one large hexagonal room on each floor, with small triangular spaces at the corners; one of these corners contains a newel stair. The main room on the first floor features a fireplace with a 19th-century surround.

The lodge was built for Thomas Tresham of Rushton Hall and is an architectural expression that plays with the number three, symbolizing the Holy Trinity and also serving as a pun on Tresham's surname. The building is currently cared for by English Heritage.