Chacombe Priory

Details

SP44SE
6/51
11/09/53

CHACOMBE
BANBURY ROAD
(North side)
Chacombe Priory

II*

Country House on the site of an Augustinian Priory. C16, incorporating medieval
remains. Remodelled early C18. Limestone and ironstone ashlar, stone slate roof.
Stone stacks. E-plan, facing south, irregular rear elevations. Main front: 2
storeys and attic, 9 bays. Flanking wings separately roofed, 2 storeys, one bay.
Projecting 2-storey centrepiece incorporating C16 work, and sundial has doorway
with square stone hood and C19 ribbed plank door carved with a band of
quatrefoils; 3-light first-floor window with stone mullions and transom and
square hood, balustraded parapet with twisted columns at angles surmounted by
gable with elaborate strapwork cresting flanked by obelisks. C18 windows on
either side of entrance have plain stone frames and C19 6-pane sashes. Similar
windows with 12-pane sashes on first floor. Bracketed wooden cornice, C20
dormers, coped gable ends. Side wings have similar fenestration and straight
parapets. Stone porch to right with twisted columns and balustraded parapet said
to have been built c.1910. Rear elevation has central projection with double
hipped roof and early C18 wood mullioned and transomed windows. Gabled wing to
left, C19/C20, and C18 2-bay projection to right. Interior remodelled C18 and
early C20. Open-well staircase c.1700 has square panelled newel posts and
twisted balusters. Entrance to staircase from hall framed by wooden fluted Doric
pilasters. C16 stone fireplace with 4-centred arch in ground-floor room and
similar fireplace in bedroom. C18 style plaster cornices and fireplaces in
ground floor rooms may be replacements after a fire c.1910. Main rafters and
stumps of cut tie beams exposed above staircase, probably part of C16 roof
structure. building known as 'The Chapel' adjoining house to right (north east),
late C13, has 2 gabled rectangular blocks running north to south. Coursed
limestone rubble, stone slate and slate roofs. West wall divided into 3 bays by
buttresses, has string course at first floor level. Late C13 doorway in right
bay with pointed chamfered arch. C13 window centre bay, 2 trefoiled lights under
square head with mullion in form of octagonal shaft with moulded base. Small
window left bay of first floor c.1300 has 2 ogee lights and square head. Doorway
in left bay of south wall has wood lintel and plank door; above it is blocked
4-centred arch. Similar doorway in north wall on first floor approached by stone
steps. East wall has C18 windows with wood lintels and wood mullions. Interior:
Ground floor divided into 4 rooms by thick stone walls. Stumps of original floor
joists remain and two complete chamfered main beams, one supported by arched
timber braces springing from stone corbels C13 trefoil headed recess and shelf
in wall facing south entrance (possibly former piscina) similar mutilated recess
in north room. Walls of first floor partly rebuilt in brick with pigeon holes,
Roof timbers C19/C20, There was an Augustinian Priory here founded in the mid
C12. It was disolved in 1536 and c.1542 acquired by Michael Fox. The site is
bounded to the south and east by a broad water filled ditch.
(Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.146; V.C.H.: Northamptonshire, Vol.II
(1906) p.133-5).

Listing NGR: SP4878943874

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

234323

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, (1961), 146
Ryland, W, Adkins, D, Sejeantson, R, The Victoria History of the County of Northampton, (1906)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.