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Tudor lodge famed for Catholic symbolism reopens

Katy Prickett
News imageNational Trust Images/Kate Scott Lyveden Lodge, a roofless late 16th Century building built out of cream-coloured stone, showing two sides of its cross shape. It is surrounded by grass and above is a blue sky. National Trust Images/Kate Scott
The building was designed in the shape of a Greek cross by a Roman Catholic landowner in the late Elizabethan era

An Elizabethan lodge renowned for its Roman Catholic symbolism has reopened after essential conservation work.

Specialist teams have repaired damaged oak, restored stonework and repointed walls at the National Trust-owned Lyveden Lodge, near Oundle, Northamptonshire.

It was built by Sir Thomas Tresham in the late 16th Century, although it was never finished. It also sits within one of England's oldest surviving gardens.

"We're very excited to open Lyveden Lodge after 18 months and welcome visitors back inside this remarkable building," said Matthew Glasgow, senior building surveyor.

"While further conservation work will be needed in the coming years, the completed repairs mean visitors can once again enjoy this extraordinary unfinished vision of Sir Thomas Tresham."

News imageNational Trust Images A close-up of a wooden lintel set into a stone built window aperture. The wooden lintel is crumbling in the middle and the window is braced by scaffolding poles.National Trust Images
Significant decay was found in its lintels during a survey in 2024, according to owner the National Trust

The work was deemed necessary after surveys in 2024 identified significant decay in the lodge's timber lintels.

As a result, the lodge was closed to the public for 18 months, although the wider National Trust site remained open.

Glasgow said: "Throughout the project, we worked closely with ecologists to protect bat habitats and with specialist heritage contractors to ensure the repairs were carried out sensitively and sustainably."

News imageNational Trust Images/Mike Selby A view of Lyveden Lodge through trees and across grass. It shows a roofless late Elizabethan stone built building. National Trust Images/Mike Selby
The house is sometimes called Lyveden New Bield, meaning a new building, a name has only been in use since the late 1800s, said the charity

Sir Thomas was a wealthy landowner who was regularly imprisoned and fined because as a staunch Catholic, he refused to attend Protestant Church of England services.

The architecture of the lodge deploys Christian numerology and is built in the shape of a Greek cross.

For example, the number seven was used to symbolise the seven instruments of the Passion (crucifixion) of Christ and a carved frieze between the ground and first floor shows seven emblems of the Passion.

News imageNational Trust Images/Mike Selby Lyveden Lodge, a roofless late 16th Century building built out of cream-coloured stone. It was built in the shape of a cross and the view shows three of its four sides, with two sides on either side of a third which juts out in the middle. It is surrounded by grass and above is blue sky.National Trust Images/Mike Selby
It looks like a ruin but in fact, it was never completed and has remained largely the same since 1605

Sir Thomas' garden plans were inspired by European gardens and included canals, raised terraces, viewing mounts and orchards.

He would also go on to create another building replete with Christian and Roman Catholic symbolism on his estates - the Triangular Lodge, which references the Holy Trinity.

However, he died in 1605 leaving Lyveden incomplete and it has remained largely untouched ever since.

Sir Thomas' son, Francis, inherited the estate, but was almost immediately embroiled in the Gunpowder Plot and died awaiting trial in the Tower of London.

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