Wothorpe is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, England. It is in the far north-west of the district, and to the south of Stamford (in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

). The parish borders

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

to the west.

Overview

Wothorpe Priory Wothorpe Priory was a monastic house in Northamptonshire, England but adjacent to Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,70 ...

was a "small Benedictine nunnery", founded apparently around 1160. All but one of the nuns died in the outbreak of

Plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

in 1349, with the survivor becoming part of the Priory of St Michael in Stamford. The property was dissolved by Henry VIII, being granted to Richard Cecil. As a parish, it was considered a hamlet within the parish of Stamford Baron, becoming a separate

once more in 1866. Historically the parish was part of the

Soke of Peterborough The Soke of Peterborough is a historic area of England associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered part of Northamptonshire. The Soke was also described as the Liberty of Peterborough, or Nassaburgh hundred, and comp ...

, associated with Northamptonshire. Administratively, it became part of the Stamford

rural sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

in the 19th century, then later the

Barnack Rural District Barnack was a rural district in the Soke of Peterborough and later Huntingdon and Peterborough from 1894 to 1974. It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, from that part of the Stamford rural sanitary district which was in ...

of the administrative county of the Soke, then passing to Huntingdon and Peterborough in 1965 and Cambridgeshire in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. Wothorpe Towers (also Wothorpe Lodge) is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The early-17th-century lodge was once part of the Burghley House estate, built by

Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, KG (5 May 1542 – 8 February 1623), known as Lord Burghley from 1598 to 1605, was an English politician, courtier and soldier. Family Thomas Cecil was the elder son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, b ...

, eldest son of

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...

. After Thomas' death, the Towers were leased to

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros, (30 January 1628 – 16 April 1687) was an English statesman and poet. Life Early life George was the son of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, favourite of James I a ...

, then used as a

dower house A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish or Welsh estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house from the larger family ...

and finally, part dismantled to provide an eye-catcher in the newly landscaped Burghley park. The historic site including the Towers was purchased from the Burghley House Preservation Trust in 2004 by Janet and Paul Griffin; a programme of repair and consolidation of the Towers has been carried out by them, resulting in the building's removal from the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

in 2008. They established, and are trustees of, the Wothorpe Towers Preservation Trust, to which they have gifted the Towers structure. Together, they are responsible for the future care and upkeep of the building, which now stands as a consolidated monument within the grounds of the site owned and occupied by the Griffins as a private residence. Wothorpe Farmhouse and barn remain on the Heritage at Risk Register. Both are Grade II* listed. The former grandstand (1766) of the Stamford Racecourse is now also Grade II* listed. It was restored for residential use in 1997.

Racecourse road

Within the parish of Wothorpe is the highest point of the historic Soke of Peterborough. The high point of is located on Racecourse Road at , next to the county boundary with Northamptonshire. Although unmarked, the summit is of interest to participants in hill bagging who visit these high points of the historic counties of England. County Boundary - geograph

References

* http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10287212 * http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/monasticon/?function=detail&id=899&PHPSESSID=1e6aeff1f699c2e36de654658d0029fc * Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Volume II

External links

Wothorpe Towers
Villages in Cambridgeshire Geography of Peterborough Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire {{Cambridgeshire-geo-stub