Buckden - a Huntingdonshire Village

BUCKDEN’S BUILDINGS 98 Plan from the Victoria County History The diaper work can just be made out in the west wall of the Inner gate House. Bishop Russell’s shield is clearer. (1649-60) by Christopher Packe, a close associate of Oliver Cromwell. 1 Bishop Sanderson, who was appointed in 1660, set about repairing the buildings at his own cost, and the Palace was to remain a favourite residence of the bishops for nearly two hundred years. Excavations have found traces of the great medieval hall and chapel which were possibly built of Barnack limestone and clunch 2 , the remains of which could have been reused in the repair or remains of the inner gatehouse. Great timbers were felled from the forest of Weybridge near Huntingdon for the rebuilding of the great hall after a fire in 1291. The surviving palace buildings are late fifteenth century in date and were constructed at the same time as other notable brick buildings in the eastern counties, particularly in Lincolnshire and locally in Cambridge. This is a time when Flemish brick makers and layers were employed by the court of Henry VII and later by Henry VIII. The Great Tower in Buckden was built as the King’s Lodgings and is similar in plan though not in detail to Tattershall Castle, built for Ralf Cromwell in Lincolnshire in 1434-35. The superb quality of the bricks and the construction of the building must surely imply that a Flemish master mason was at work here in Buckden: brick building on this scale was unprecedented in Huntingdonshire at that time. The skill and intricate detail of the brickwork points to a man who was skilful in design and planning, from the manufacture of the bricks to the management of a large work force. It is possible that local people were used as labourers but Flemings were employed as the ‘layers’ of the bricks. The Great Tower was built to impress visiting episcopal lords and royalty rather than for defence. The siting beside the moat may have been for reasons associated with discharge from the garderobes on the south side of the tower, which is buttressed by a great chimney stack that can be seen from the churchyard. Could this siting have been popular with the members of the parish church at that time? The bricks of the walls were laid in English bond, that is with alternating courses of headers and stretchers, while the courses laid in curved and irregular walls are in a header bond. The mortar bond is particularly thick to carry the bricks that are not perfect, but few bricks are imperfect. The openings to doorways and windows are constructed from moulded bricks reproducing the moulded details found on medieval stone masonry, but there are classical details in the clays that produced the bright red brick. The clay was 1 Sir Christopher (later Lord) Packe (c. 1599—1682) was a leading City merchant, alderman, Lord Mayor and MP. In 1649 he paid some £8000 for the manor of Buckden. Despite financial scandals and the notoriety of having suggested to parliament that Cromwell should be offered the crown, he survived the return of Charles II and moved serenely into a prosperous old age. 2 Clunch has been used for some ‘stonework’ details. It is a hard chalk that is easily carved and is quarried in Cambridgeshire.