Lyveden New Bield

In an isolated part of rural Northamptonshire, an Elizabethan lodge house in the shape of a Greek Cross dominates the countryside. When Sir Thomas Tresham died in 1605, those who were working on Lyveden New Bield downed their tools and left as they would no longer be getting paid. The "new build" was left half built and has remained virtually unaltered since Tudor times.

The plan consists of five equal squares and each arm ends in a bay with five sides each measuring five feet, making a total of 25 feet. This is no accident - it relates to the 25th of December and 25th March, the date of the Nativity and the Annunciation. This is just one of the numerical features of this intriguing building, designed by Sir Thomas as a visible dedication of his Catholic faith.

During my visit recently, I walked around the perimeter of the structure at least three times and noticed something different each time. Everywhere you look there are visual expressions of Sir Thomas's faith. A carved frieze between the ground and first floor has seven emblems of the Passion repeated around the outside of the building based on designs by Italian architect Serlio. Thirty pieces of silver surrounding an image of Judas's money bag is one carving, while the scourge, pillar, crown of thorns and sceptre of reeds make up another. The sacred monogram IHS and the letters "XP" representing Christ are two more patterns.

To get inside the house, you have to go through the servants' entrance at the back which involves ducking your head as the doorway is so small. Inside, you get the impression that Lyvden was intended to be a fully habitable house. There is a kitchen with a fireplace carved out and a bake oven at the back. In the east wing, an open bay window is decorated with the coats of arms of Tresham and his wife Muriel Throckmorton. In the lobby, there is a niche in the corner all ready for a statue of Our Lady to be put up. The holes drilled to hold the statue are still visible - but obviously they never got round to installing it. This is just one example of subtle hints of Catholicism at Lyveden. When looking up, you can see how the lodge's first floor was planned out but never finished. Noticeably, there is also no roof. The views from the open windows over the valley are spectacular.

For the Tudor aristocracy, competitive building projects was a popular activity. Sir Thomas was acquainted with neighbours such as Sir William Cecil, secretary of state for Queen Elizabeth, and lord chancellor Sir Christopher Hatton. Both men were influential builders of the period, with Cecil's Burghley House at Stamford and Hatton's Kirby Hall near Corby as two examples. Tresham, whose residence was Rushton Hall, built three houses that were all an expression of his Catholic faith. The first was the Market House in Rothwell and then came Triangular Lodge, an expression of his devotion to the Holy Trinity and a structure that I have blogged about before.

Work on Lyveden started in 1594 and was still in progress when Tresham died in 1605. Sir Thomas did enjoy a lavish lifestyle, despite being jailed or subject to house arrest for recusancy for several years. One historian that features on the very useful audio guides at Lyveden says that Tresham's apparent obsessiveness with numbers could have come from all those months staring at four walls. When not incarcerated, he would entertain friends and even people not known to him. Sometimes, up to 100 people went to his parties. He feasted on more than 50 cattle and 200 sheep in a single year.

His intention at Lyveden was to create a striking building that would serve as a garden lodge. The idea was to create a half a mile build up to the venue from the manor house, or Lyvden Old Bield, with the purpose of entertaining guests. The walk would go through the orchard, that was also unfinished, and would lead up to a mound. A first glimpse of the lodge could be caught when guests reached the top of the raised terrace walk. The stroll would then continue over the moat, also only 75 per cent completed, and to another mount overlooking the new bield.


The story behind the lodge opens up whole new chapters about how Catholicism survived in the Midlands during penal times. Sir Thomas married Muriel Throckmorton, a family based at Coughton Court in Warwickshire that I have also blogged previously about. The Throckmortons and the Treshams are two of the most important Catholic families in England, committed to harbouring priests, providing places for them to say Mass and being holy men and women themselves. Putting aside Sir Thomas's son Francis' alleged involvement with the Gunpowder Plot, these two families might not have had martyrs among their numbers, but both largely remained faithful to the Catholic faith and were key players in the underground church.