Kettlethorpe Hall is a Victorian house in

Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire __NOTOC__ Kettlethorpe is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated west from the city of Lincoln. The villages of Drinsey Nook and Laughterton lie within Kettlethorpe parish. The populati ...

, noted for its connection to Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. It encloses fragments of the former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with ...

including the medieval

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

, within the surviving

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

. It is a

Grade II 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 I ...

. Sir Hugh Swynford (died in 1371) married Katherine Roet, whose sister Philippa is believed to have been the wife of Geoffrey Chaucer. Lady Katherine became governess to the children of John of Gaunt, the third surviving son of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

, and also Gaunt's mistress. Their four children, the Beauforts, were eventually legitimised when Gaunt took Lady Katherine as his third wife, in 1396. She at one time lived at Kettlethorpe Hall. The present house was built in the early 1700s for Charles Hall, MP, whose grandfather had acquired the estate by marriage. He died without issue and bequeathed Kettlethorpe to his half-brother's son, Charles Amcotts, MP of Harrington Hall. He in turn left it to his sister Anna-Maria, who had married Sir Wharton Emerson, who changed his name to Amcotts. After passing by marriage to Sir William Amcotts-Ingilby it was inherited by Weston Cracroft Amcotts, MP, who carried out extensive remodelling of the house in 1863. It then further passed down in the family to Sir Weston Cracroft-Amcotts, who sold it in 1961. The house contains walls, some carved heads and a small oak-panelled room dating from the 17th century. In the old tower is an early 18th-century panelled dining room with a late 18th-century marble fireplace. The drawing room's stucco ceiling is 18th-century, and the library and front hall are Victorian. The moat and its cleaning was one of the most widely used examples of MPs' expenses claims scandal during 2009. This contributed to the retirement of its owner, Douglas Hogg, from the House of Commons and the granting to him of a life peerage allowing him to sit in the House of Lords.

Notes

{{coord, 53.2706, -0.7295, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Lincolnshire Grade II listed buildings in Lincolnshire *