Ufford Hall is a Georgian country house in the village of Ufford, now 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 ...

area of the ceremonial county of

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. Ufford 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 ...

, which was associated with Northamptonshire but had its own county council from

1888 In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...

until 1965, and then formed part of Huntingdon and Peterborough until 1974. The nearest town is

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...

The Hall 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 house is built of ashlar, the central five bays of three storeys with two-bay flanking wings on both sides, each of two storeys. At the front is a central pedimented porch with Tuscan columns. The Hall stands in a gravelled courtyard with the entrance façade facing the village street and with parkland to the rear.

History

The Hall was built in 1734 for Lord Charles Manners, a younger son of the

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...

and Lucy Manners, Duchess of Rutland, on land he had bought from his mother. On his death it passed to his brother James who enlarged the original house by adding an extra floor and the flanking wings and also built a stable block. James left the house to his nephew, George Manners, who sold it by auction. It was bought by William Leigh Symes, owner of the Oxford estate, a sugar plantation in Jamaica, and, in 1797, inherited by his son, Robert. The latter never occupied the hall and it was leased to a succession of tenants for the next 100 years or so. Among the residents was Tory MP Henry Swann (1763 – 1824). In 1902 it was bought by Malcolm Wolryche–Whitmore who, on his death in 1940, left it to his nephew, Oliver Kitson, from 1958 Lord Airedale. His father,

Roland Kitson, 3rd Baron Airedale Captain Roland Dudley Kitson, 3rd Baron Airedale (19 July 1882 – 20 March 1958), businessman, was born in Leeds, son of Sir James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale and his second wife, Mary Laura, daughter of Edward Fisher Smith. Roland's elder hal ...

, lived there until his death in 1958. The fourth Lord Airedale lived in the basement and converted the rest of the house into apartments. The stable block became a self-contained dwelling known as Fountain Court. Upon the death of Lord Airedale in 1996, the Hall passed to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

who sold it on due to its poor physical condition. In 2015 a major restoration project was begun by the new owners; the renovations were completed in 2017.

References

{{coord, 52.6258, -0.3866, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Cambridgeshire Grade I listed buildings in Peterborough Grade I listed houses