A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



Longthorpe,' and it appears from a later document 

 that the ancestors of Thurstan had held land in 

 Longthorpe of the Watervilles from ' time imme- 

 morial.' ' The father of Thurstan and his son were 

 both named William,' and in 1227 Guy, son of 

 Robert de Watervillc, released all right in the tene- 

 ment held from him in Longthorpe by the latter to 

 the abbot and convent of Peterborough.* During 

 the 13th century William son of Thurstan not only 

 held the land of the Waterville fee, but also that which 

 had belonged to Godric' 



In 1 32 1 Robert of Thorpe did homage to the 

 abbot of Peterborough for his estate in Marholm, and 

 also for one-third part of all the land he held in 

 Longthorpe. More, he said, he could not do because 

 of an agreement made with Alexander, abbot of 

 Peterborough, and his ancestor, William son of 

 Thurstan, when his homage and service was trans- 

 ferred from Guy de Waterville to the abbey. By his 

 agreement it was arranged that the Thorpes should 

 p.iy 61. %d. for all services from the land they held of 

 the Watervilles. On investigation of the abbey's 

 records it was found that Robert's statement was 

 correct." From this date until the reign of Henry VII 

 the descent of this land in Longthorpe follows that of 

 the manors of Marholm and Milton, except that it 

 does not appear to have come at all into the hands of 

 the Suttons in the 15th century, but to have remained 

 in the possession of the Wittleburys and their relatives 

 the Plcsyngtons.' In 1503 Robert Wittlebury and 

 Anne, his wife, sold the manor of Longthorpe to 

 Thomas Montague and others,' who, according to 

 Bridges, transferred it almost immediately to Abbot 

 Kirkton,' thus probably accounting for the existence 

 of two manors in Longthorpe among the abbey's 

 possessions in the reign of Henry VIII. 



The dean and chapter of Peterborough, to whom 

 Longthorpe was granted by Henry VIII in 1541,'° 

 leased both manors. About I 550 John Vyllers still 

 occupied the old manor, and Antony Bartholomew 

 farmed the new." A family of the name of Robinson 

 afterwards Icised one manor for many years, and were 

 in occupation when the com- 

 missioners for the sale of church 

 lands took possession of it about 

 1650, but on payment of a fine 

 their estate was discharged." 



About 1653 Oliver St. John, 

 who also had a lease of the old 

 manor of Longthorpe from the 

 dean and chapter, bought an 

 estate at Longthorpe from them 

 and built upon it, largely with 

 stone from the cloisters at Peter- 

 borough, his magnificent house 

 of Thorpe Hall. Oliver St. John 

 is one of the greatest names 

 county, 

 of the 



St. John. Argent a 

 chiifguUi •with tzvo motets 

 or therein^ 



connected with the 



He was prominent among the opponents 

 court in the reign of Charles I, and was 

 counsel for Hampden in the trial of the validity of 



ship-money, in which he gained great distinction by 

 his speech. As a leader of the opposition he ranks 

 with Hampden, Pym, and Lord Bedford, and was 

 the fiercest of all the persecutors of Strafford. He 

 was in dose alliance with Cromwell, whose cousin 

 he married, from 1644 to 1648. As Chief Justice 

 of Common Pleas he held aloof from the king's trial, 

 opposed Cromwell's protectorate, and afterwards 

 assisted Monk in the Restoration. An orator, states- 

 man, judge, and diplomatist, he is only just below the 

 very greatest men of the age. After the Restoration 

 he spent some years of his retirement at Longthorpe, 

 which afterwards passed to his son and grandson, both 

 named Francis." Mary, the daughter and co-heir of 

 the second Francis, married Sir John Bernard, of Bramp- 

 ton, in Huntingdon. They made Longthorpe their 

 home, and Mary survived her son, Sir Robert Bernard, 

 who died without children in 1789, by about six 

 years." The estate then passed to the Fitzwilliams of 

 Milton Hall, who sold it in July, 1850, to the Rev. 

 William Strong, father of the present proprietor." 



Thorpe Hall was built at an interesting period in 

 the development of architectural design, and in its 

 plan and ornamental detail occupies an intermediate 

 position between the free treatment of the Elizabethan 

 designers and the formal and sometimes mechanical 

 handling of the 1 8th century. It was the work of 

 John Webb, nephew and pupil of Inigo Jones, and 

 was finished in 1656. The plan is an oblong without 

 any considerable break in the straightness of its lines. 

 There are no wings, and the formality of the treatment 

 precludes the introduction of any device for obtaining 

 niceties of planning — the small rooms and the large 

 have to be equally lofty and lighted with equally large 

 windows. The closer imitation of Italian models 

 which was becoming prevalent was taking much of the 

 elasticity out of house designing, but no doubt it was 

 thought that sufficient compensation was afforded by 

 the more monumental effect obtained by a stricter 

 adherence to rules and to symmetry. Nevertheless, 

 there is still a considerable amount of freedom in the 

 way in which the detail is treated at Thorpe, and fancy 

 continues to play an important part in its design, as 

 witness the stone archway and pillars outside, and the 

 wood panelling, the staircase, and the plaster ceilings 

 inside. Webb was much more familiar with classic 

 detail than were his predecessors of fifty years earlier, 

 but he did not succumb to the supposed necessity of 

 having everything 'correct,' as did architects of fifty 

 years later, and consequently he allowed his imagination 

 sufficient play to produce work of an interesting charac- 

 ter. Thorpe Hall still remains a notable example of 

 the work of a gifted architect, executed at a period 

 when, owing to the unsettled state of the country, no 

 great amount of house-building was undertaken." 



The stables and garden walls are contemporary with 

 the house, and afford a good example of the excellent 

 effect obtained by treating the surroundings of the 

 main structure in an architectural manner. The 

 arms of St. John are carved over the mantelpiece in 



> Cur. Reg. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 213. 



' Cott. Vesp. E. xxi, 79. 



^ Swapham, fol. 178^. 



* Ibid. fol. 214*. 



s Ibid. fol. 141*. 



^ Cott. Vesp. E. xxi, 79 ; Swapham, 

 214A; F«et of F. Northants, 6 Hen. Ill, 

 No. 8. 



'See. Antiq. MS. No. 38, fol. iio; 



Feet of F. Northants, 18 Ric. II, No. i6l ; 

 Misc. Bks. (Exch. K..R.), iv, 235. 



8 Feet of F. Northants, 18 Hen. VII. 

 ^ Bridges {ii, 572) quotes from a Peter- 

 borough register now at Burghley House. 

 '» Pat. 33 Henry VIII, pt. iii, m. 

 14-17. 



" Doc. in custody of the dean and 

 chapter of Peterborough. 



458 



" Close, 1650, pt. xxvi. No. 34 ; Col, of 

 Corn. for Compounding^^, XIJJ 



" Diet. Nat. Biog. 



'* G. E. C. Baronetage, iii, 250. 



** Papers in possession of Colonel Strong. 



" See the monograph by A. W. Hake- 

 will, General Plan and External Details, 

 iviih Picturesque Illustrations of Thorpe Hall, 

 Peterhomugh (1852). 



