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

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

area of the ceremonial county of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England. Ufford was part of the

Soke of Peterborough The Soke of Peterborough is a historic area of England associated with the City and Anglican Diocese of Peterborough, Diocese of Peterborough. It was part of Northamptonshire, but was administered by Soke of Peterborough County Council, its own ...

, which was associated with Northamptonshire but had its own county council from 1888 until 1965, and then formed part of

Huntingdon and Peterborough Huntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived administrative county, administrative and Geographical counties of England, geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of Cambridgesh ...

until 1974. The nearest town is

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a market 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 ...

The Hall is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The house is built of

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

, 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 Lucy Manners, Duchess of Rutland (''née'' Sherard) ( – 27 October 1751), was a British heiress who married John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland. Early life Lucy was born around 1685 and was the daughter of the former Elizabeth Christopher and Ben ...

, 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, 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 () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

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