Lyveden New Bield (or Build) was begun in 1594 by the talented Sir Thomas Tresham as a garden lodge for his manor house at Lyveden.
Although the architect Robert Stickells assisted him, the inspiration came from Sir Thomas.
The building is two storeys high and designed in the shape of an equal-armed cross - illustrating the Elizabethan love of symbolism.
Running around the outside are two freizes, one has carved emblems depicting the Passion. the other has carved sentences from the Vulgate and other references to the Passion.
Sir Thomas also incorporated a number of mathematical arrangements in his design.
For example, the arms of the cross are equal squares which enclose another of the same size making five equal squares. The bay windows start 5 feet from the corner of the building and have 5 faces each five feet in length.
Sir Thomas Tresham came from an established Northamptonshire family and was staunchly loyal to Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1575.
Although Sir Thomas was brought up as a Protestant he converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1580. Following his conversion he spent 15 years of the 25 years remaining to him in prison or under house arrest for his religious beliefs. Plus he was heavily fined for his recusancy.
It was whilst he was imprisoned that Sir Thomas developed his mystic ideas and when at liberty he applied them to his buildings. Lyveden was not his only symbolic building, the triangular lodge he built at Rushton illustrates the doctrine of the Trinity.
Despite its eccentric plan and decoration Lyveden New Bield was intended to be a comfortable family house but was still unfinished when Sir Thomas died in 1605.
After his death Sir Thomas' son was involved in the Gunpowder Plot and imprisoned and the estate passed into other hands and, apart from the removal of the floor timbers during the Commonwealth, Lyveden New Bield was left untouched.
The fact that the shell has deteriorated so little is a tribute to the masons who built it.
In 1922 the house was purchased by the National Trust by means of a public subscription.
The building has not been restored but it has been given weather protection by the Trust.
The abandoned house now stands alone in a field, its isolated and deserted air gives the house a sense of mystery.
The fields around it preserve the faint outlines of a series of canals, mounds and terraces and the diamond-patterned knotted garden that were part of a grand formal garden established by Sir Thomas.
This is one of the oldest surviving garden layouts in England and excavations have revealed that Lyveden New Bield occupies land that was once a thriving village.
2009: 1Feb-29Nov 11:00-16:00 Sat-Sun, 18Mar-31Oct 10:30-17:00 Wed-Sun, 1Aug-30Aug 10:30-17:00 Mon-Sun. Open BankHol Mons. Good Fri: 10:30-17:00. Last entry 30min before close.
Tel: 01832 205358 Lyveden New Bield Website
