Lyveden, revisited and reconnected

by Laura Malpas

Revisiting a dearly loved old friend that you have not met for years can be an anxious time. I have visited one of our most beloved Northamptonshire treasures, Lyveden, a great many times, and felt that I knew it well. Over the last few years there has been lots happening following the purchase of the remains of the original Lyveden Manor, so I revisited recently to refresh our old friendship.

Lyveden New Bield, Northamptonshire

It is exactly 100 years since the National Trust acquired Lyveden ‘New Bield’ as it was known. It had been left in a state of benign neglect for over 300 years after its owner passed away. It was always recognised as a very special place, a unique survivor of late Elizabethan architecture and garden design, and when it came up for sale, it was purchased with funds raised by public subscription, and donated to the National Trust in 1922. Lyveden then consisted of the garden lodge, the main features of the garden, and the nearby cottage. This is the Lyveden that I visited many times. In 2013 the National Trust was able to purchase the remains of the original manor house and the surrounding land and has recently taken the opportunity to reunite the two properties to create a new experience. Lyveden remains the same magical place, but now the visit begins quite differently, and as it was intended by Sir Thomas Tresham when he set about realising his dream in the early 1600s.

Sir Thomas Tresham

The Garden Lodge at Lyveden was intended to be a retreat from the original manor house, of which nothing much remains. The manor seen today was built by Sir Thomas’s younger son, Lewis.

Sir Thomas intended the journey from the manor house, through carefully planned gardens, to be as impressive and meaningful as the new garden lodge itself. Leaving the Manor and its formal gardens, the ground slopes up gently to his new Orchard. This was planted with fruit and nut trees, all specified by Sir Thomas. This vision has been faithfully recreated with historic varieties of more than 300 fruiting trees.

Passing through the orchard, the traveller reaches a raised terrace with pyramid mounds at either end. From here one can enjoy a view down the slope, and across the orchard to the Manor, but the Garden Lodge is not yet visible. Climbing one of the pyramid mounts, the next ingenious feature is revealed. Described by Sir Thomas as a ‘moated orchard’ the labyrinth like feature surrounded by canals was probably unfinished but is a spectacular concept. Sir Thomas requested circular borders of white roses and 400 raspberries. The spiral design is recreated today, mowed into the tall waving grasses and wildflowers growing there.

And then the journey through the Moated Garden presents the traveller with a pair of Spiral Mounts and from the top, the view of Sir Thomas’s ‘New Bield’ is revealed in all its glory.

Lyveden remains quite the most romantic unfinished project I have ever seen. It was probably intended to be three stories high and surmounted with a central cupola, designed to provide luxurious accommodation for a select few. It has all the mod cons of a high-status gentleman’s residence, including a kitchen, cellar, offices, a library, chapel and grand reception and living accommodation. Wandering through the almost intact construction, it’s hard to believe that this architectural conceit was never completed. Spaces are ready to receive flooring joists, windows are drilled ready for the mullions to be fitted, it really is as the guidebook suggests, ‘a dream interrupted’.

So why was this dream never completed by Sir Thomas’s son Francis, or even his younger son Lewis, both of whom inherited the estate?

The Garden Lodge at Lyveden, image by Mike Selby

One clue lies in the decoration and design of the Garden Lodge itself. Tresham was an ardent and practicing Roman Catholic, and he planned that every element of the architecture should have a symbolic reference to his faith. This may seem somewhat opaque to us today, but in Elizabethan England these ingenious symbols were easy to read. The building is shaped like a Greek cross, perfectly symmetrical and precisely proportioned. Architectural features use a repetition and multiples of the numbers 3, 5 and 7. These numbers represent the Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the wounds of Christ on the cross, and the instruments of the crucifixion. And the decorative exterior friezes, still crisply carved, reveal biblical quotations, and Christian symbols used by Jesuits and other Roman Catholics.

This intense focus on Roman Catholic symbolism was a brave move in Elizabethan England. The aging Protestant Queen Elizabeth was presiding over an increasingly anti Roman Catholic nation, and Sir Thomas’s resistance to religious reform was considered by the Queen as a challenge to her Crown. Sir Thomas was heavily penalised and fined repeatedly. He died in 1605 following decades of persecution, his once vast wealth depleted, leaving his heir Francis Tresham struggling and resentful.

Along with his cousins Robert Catesby and Thomas Wintour, Francis became deeply involved in the plot to blow up the House of Lords and King James, and to replace him with Princess Elizabeth, aged nine, as a puppet Roman Catholic Queen. The Gunpowder Plotters were a desperate band, and it all frightened Francis so much that he is suspected of writing a warning letter to his brother-in-law which gave the whole game away. Tresham was sent to the Tower of London, interrogated, and died before he was able to be hanged.

Lyveden then passed to Francis’s younger spendthrift brother Lewis, then to Lewis’s son before it passed out of the Tresham family possession, remaining forever unfinished.

The Introductory Room at the Lodge, image by Mike Selby

Today’s custodians of Lyveden have vastly improved the visitor experience by reconnecting the Manor with the Lodge. I visited on a warm summer day when the beauty of the Northamptonshire countryside was breathtaking. Wildflowers and tall grasses were blooming, the orchard was heavy with ripening fruits, and the moats were filled with dragonflies and amphibians, and the occasional enthusiastic dog. It’s the perfect place to take a picnic and spend the afternoon with friends and family, exploring and relaxing. It's not just for history lovers, as photographers, bug hunters, bird spotters and many other hobbyists will find plenty to enjoy. Even if the weather isn’t perfect, the remains of the old Manor have been made very comfortable, there’s a lovely café selling light lunches and refreshments, a small exhibition space, and a very comfortable ‘Common Room’ to sit and relax, perhaps to read a reference book, or to buy one second hand.

There’s always lots happening over holidays. And families are well catered for as well as those who want to enjoy the peace and quiet. Dogs on leads are welcome everywhere, even with their own ‘stick library’. Why not visit, and either make a new friend, or reacquaint yourself with an old and beloved place, now looking better than ever.

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