Bede House
BEDE HOUSE, MARKET SQUARE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1191999
- Date first listed:
- 23-Sept-1950
- List Entry Name:
- Bede House
- Statutory Address:
- BEDE HOUSE, MARKET SQUARE
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-05-07
- Reference:
- IOE01/11981/21
- Rights:
- © Mr Roger Ashley. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1191999
- Date first listed:
- 23-Sept-1950
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 17-Jun-1987
- List Entry Name:
- Bede House
- Statutory Address 1:
- BEDE HOUSE, MARKET SQUARE
- Statutory Address 2:
- BEDE HOUSE, MIDLAND ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- BEDE HOUSE, MARKET SQUARE
- Statutory Address:
- BEDE HOUSE, MIDLAND ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- North Northamptonshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Higham Ferrers
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 96140 68486
Details
HIGHAM FERRERS MARKET SQUARE SP9668SW (East side) 20/56 Bede House 23/09/50 (Formerly listed as Bede House and Preaching cross) GV I
Bede house, now church hall. c.1428, restored C19. Squared coursed and banded limestone and ironstone with C20 plain tile roof. Hall plan with chapel at east end. Single storey. South elevation of chapel of one-window range with 2-light ogee-head window with panel tracery. Gabled roof with ashlar gable parapet and finial. 2-stage clasping buttress at corner, with gargoyle above. 3-light east window with renewed panel tracery. North elevation of chapel is similar to south. Window has renewed tracery and crocketted hood mould with carved label stops. Arch-head entrance to undercroft to far right. South elevation of hall is of 6 bays. 2-window range. 2-light square-head windows with transoms and cusping to second bay from either end. North doorway in bay to far left. 2-stage buttresses between bays. Ashlar gable parapets and rebuilt lateral stack. C20 single-storey extension attached to right of centre. North elevation of hall is similar to south elevation. South doorway in third bay from west end has moulded stone surround with 4-centre arch head, and hood mould with label stops decorated with rosettes. West elevation has central doorway with 2-centred arch head, and crocketted hood mould with label stops decorated with rosettes. 5-light Perpendicular window above with panel tracery, crocketted hood mould and carved label stops. Double-chamfered plinth around whole building divides and rises over doorhead. Carved kneeler to left side of gable and bellcote at apex with crocketted gable. Canopied niches with C20 figures, in sides of bellcote. Interior: hall has C15 fireplace in right wall with 4-centred arch head and hood mould. 5 Bedesmens lockers in left wall have C20 doors. Restored C15 roof structure with moulded arch braced trusses. Moulded and chamfered arch from hall to chapel has castellated capitals to responds. Ogee-head niches to either side of east window and ogee-head piscina to right. Undercroft under chapel not inspected. Bede House was re-founded in 1428 by Archbishop Henry Chichele. The foundation was for 12 old men and a woman attendant. Each had a cubicle and hall locker within the hall. It continued in use until C18. The chapel, which was roofless by mid C19, was restored by Earl Fitzgerald.
Listing NGR: SP9614068486
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 232356
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 14-Jun-2026 at 05:19:17.
Download a full scale map (PDF)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.