Standon Lordship (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
The Lordship

In the civil parish of Standon.
In the historic county of Hertfordshire.
Modern Authority of Hertfordshire.
1974 county of Hertfordshire.
Medieval County of Hertfordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL39252144
Latitude 51.87424° Longitude 0.02137°

Standon Lordship has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*.

Description

Country house, now 2 houses. 1540-46 for Sir Ralph Sadleir, fragmentary remains of Tudor courtyard house extended circa 1872 by John Thorpe for 2nd Duke of Wellington, extensively renovated after fire of 1927. Red brick with remains of diaper work and traces of plastered surrounds of window openings. 19th century half-timbering at rear with diagonal red brick nogging. Old red tiled roofs. The present building incorporates the W range, gateway arch and other fragments of an important 16th century courtyard house where Queen Elizabeth spent 3 days in 1561. (PastScape)

Country house, now 2 houses. 1540-46 for Sir Ralph Sadleir (strapwork stone plaque with '1546' next entrance), fragmentary remains of Tudor courtyard house extended c1872 by John Thorpe for 2nd Duke of Wellington, extensively renovated after fire of 1927. Red brick with remains of diaper work and traces of plastered surrounds of window openings. C19 half-timbering at rear with diagonal red brick nogging. Old red tiled roofs. The present building incorporates the W range, gateway arch and other fragments of an important C16 courtyard house where Queen Elizabeth spent 3 days in 1561 (EHA Trans. II 1905-7, 89). Remarkable arrangement of 4 newel staircases in semi-octagonal turrets flanking the entrance gateway. Lower courses of 2 turrets remain at front, one capped off, one with a bay window, on right. Wide 4-centred archway of 3 moulded orders with dripmould, all with remains of plaster facing. The part to the right of the archway, of 2 storeys and attics, is original with 2 gables having moulded brick copings and the stumps of former pinnacles, and original chimneys with tall diagonal shafts. To the left of the archway (Standon Lordship East) a carefully detailed C19 building has been built in old materials on the old footings of the west range and NW turret. Mullioned timber windows in rectangular openings. Stone reset in SE wing with 'RS 1546'. Remains of N, E and S ranges in garden with semi- underground service rooms to hall in S range blocked up with hollow chamfered openings. Interior said to have several stone moulded fireplaces with carved spandrels and 4-centred arched openings. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1347501
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 368004.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 12818; 10032.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Hertfordshire Genealogy
  Rob Street, The Lordship, Standon and A Man and His House Sir Ralph Sadleir and Standon Lordship
Books
- Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 457
  Smith, J.T., 1993, Hertfordshire Houses: Selective Inventory (RCHME, London) p. 173-4
  Pevsner, Nikolas, 1953, Buildings of England: Hertfordshire (Harmondsworth) p. 238
  Page, Wm (ed), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire Vol. 3 p. 347-366 online transcription
  RCHME, 1910, An inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire (London: HMSO) p. 208 no. 5 online transcription
  Cussans, John Edwin, 1879-81, History of Hertfordshire Vol. 3 p. 170
  Chauncy, 1826, The Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire (London) p. 435 online copy print opp p. 430 online copy
  Clutterbuck, R., 1815, The History and Antiquities of the County of Hertford Vol. 3 (London)
Periodical Articles
- Burton, E., 1906, 'Standon Lordship' Transactions of the East Hertfordshire Archaeological Society Vol. 3.2 p. 140-8
  Sadleir, T.U., 1905, 'Sir Ralph Sadleir' Transactions of the East Hertfordshire Archaeological Society Vol. 3.1 p. 79-99
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Isobel Thompson, 2005, Extensive Urban Survey - Hertfordshire (English Heritage) Download copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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