A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



Woodcroft House,' now in the occupation of 

 Mr. William Renford, consists at the present day of a 

 front some loo ft. long, and a wing about 30 ft. in 

 length, with a circular tower at the exterior angle of 

 the junction, and it is on record ' that a similar tower 

 once formed the other termination of the front. The 

 moat surrounding the house still remains, and it is 

 almost certain that the latter originally occupied the 

 whole space bounded by the former, and was a 

 quadrilateral structure enclosing a court about 50 ft. 

 by 40 ft.' The entrance, in the middle of the 

 front, is surmounted by a low four-sided tower, not 

 rectangular, since its cross walls as well as the wing 

 lie obliquely to the front.* It was apparently pro- 

 tected with doors merely, and there is no provision 

 for a portcullis, nor for the chains and machinery 

 necessary for a drawbridge, nor are there any indica- 

 tions of openings for the discharge of missiles, whether 

 arrows, cannon shot, boiling oil, or other lethal 

 liquids, but the break in the horizontal string, which 

 is not continued over the archway, indicates that some 

 construction must have once existed over or in front 

 of the entrance. It was by no means a strongly- 



WooDCROFT House. 



fortified house ; the walls are thick and the windows 

 small, but there is no lack of the latter, and they are 

 arranged with some attention to symmetry. It would 

 seem that the greater part of the front dates from 

 about 1 280, that the wing was remodelled in the latter 

 part of the 15 th century, that some work was done 

 in Jacobean times, when the chapel was converted 

 into a living room and furnished with a fireplace, and 

 that the south end of the front wing was rebuilt at a 

 still later date. The whole of the internal walls 

 have practically disappeared, as well as the old stair- 



cases, and it is a matter of surmise as to where the 

 latter were placed, although the conjecture may be 

 correct that the square projection near the archway 

 contained the chief access to the upper floors. 



The small room to the right of the entrance was 

 probably the porter's lodging, and the large room to 

 the left, with its fireplace, a guard room, while 

 opposite to the gateway, in the now destroyed back 

 wing, stood the great hall. There was evidently a 

 range of rooms on the first floor, that over the 

 entrance being the chapel ; and it is clear that these 

 rooms had attics over them. The archw.iy on the 

 top floor from the corner tower into the main build- 

 ing indicates that there was an upper story here, 

 lighted by a small window in a gable behind the 

 tower. At present the building is covered with a 

 flat lead roof, but all the old prints show a stccp- 

 pitched roof of tiles, and indications in the stone 

 walls prove that this was the original form. The 

 wall and windows above the main horizontal string 

 are quite modern. The back half of the central 

 tower over the chapel was roofed with a lean-to, 

 and the upper parts of its side walls did not extend 

 much, if at all, beyond the ridge of 

 the main building. This curious and 

 unusual treatment accords with the in- 

 ternal disposition of the chapel, which 

 had an upper floor or gallery over the 

 front half, approached by a small 

 straight flight of steps just outside its 

 south side wall. The blocked doorw.ay 

 wliich led to these steps still remains, 

 with some corbel stones which sup- 

 ported the landing, and indications 

 also survive of the start of the front 

 of the gallery. The two windows im- 

 ■mediately over the entrance lighted the 

 chapel itself, while the single window 

 above them lighted the gallery, and 

 there was also a three-light window' 

 over the altar. In the south wall of 

 the chapel is a 15th-century piscina, 

 and in the opposite wall is a 17th- 

 century fireplace, which, with its flue, 

 blocks a squint from the room over 

 what is here called the guard-room. 

 The room on the ground floor of the circular 

 tower is said to have had no original connexion with 

 the main building, and it has been suggested that it 

 was used as a dungeon, with access through the floor 

 above ; but the size, position, and number of the 

 windows would seem to refute this theory. On the 

 first floor of the tower is a recess in the wall, which 

 was probably a garderobe." 



The advowson of the church of 

 St. Stephen at Etton followed the 

 descent of the manor of Etton. 



ADrOWSON 



' Sometimes called Woodcroft Castle. 



' Parker, Dom. Arcbit. ii, 250. 



^ The architectural details are simple 

 and good, and the whole treatment is out 

 of the common, and suggests that a foreign 

 designer was employed. 



* The reason for this is not obvious, but 

 it may be the result of the haphazard 

 Bctting-out which is observable in many 

 mediaeval buildings. 



* Its tracery has been replaced in 

 modem times. 



* Woodcroft House has only once 



emergod from the obscurity which has 

 settled down in a multitude of cases upon 

 what must have been important houses in 

 their time. The occasion was in the 

 Civil Wars, when a busy adherent of 

 Charles, one Dr. Michael Hudson, held 

 the place against a detachment of the 

 Parliamentary forces. His party was 

 overcome, but he himself was either so 

 obnoxious or so much dreaded by his 

 victors that he was denied the quarter 

 which was granted to his followers. He 

 retreated to the roof of the circular tower, 



488 



whence he climbed over the battlements, 

 and clung to a projecting gargoyle. His 

 pursuers hacked at his hands, and he 

 dropped into liic moat j still indomitable, 

 he swam to the bank, but was there dis- 

 patched by a servant of the parson of 

 Castor. Such are the outlines of the story 

 as preserved by the Rev. Francis Peck in 

 his Desiderata CurhtOj and subsequently 

 transmuted into literature by Scott in the 

 pages of IV^'oditockf where Holdenough 

 describes how he saw (as he supposed) his 

 old friend Dr. Rochecliffc slain. 



