The Development of a Manor House over the Longue Durée: Nassington Prebendal Manor, Northamptonshire

Abstract

ABSTRACT Excavation beneath the standing building of the Prebendal Manor House at Nassington revealed the remains of part of a tenth-century structure and the plan of an early eleventh-century timber chamber and single-aisle hall. The eleventh-century remains are identified as the hall of the priest which was later transferred to endow a prebend at Lincoln cathedral. That building was modified in the twelfth century when the single-storey chamber was replaced with a two-storey structure. The timber house was replaced c.1200 on almost exactly the same site by an unaisled stone hall with a span of 7.6 m and a stone chamber. The chamber was conjoined with the hall, but entered externally. In 1433–50 a major reconstruction of the hall was undertaken, with the walls raised and a new roof constructed. The service wing was rebuilt in a slightly later phase, with a clasped purlin roof dated to c. 1455. The later development of the manor house is treated more summarily. Parts of the hall are still standing, while the chamber was not demolished until c. 1800. The persistence on the same site of a manorial building from the eleventh century onwards is notable, and the reasons for this are examined.