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Chapter 8 The Castor House Estate

Reconciling folklore with fact

‘Castor has two fine old houses. One is the manor built for the Bishops of Peterborough. For over 200 years thebishops were also rectors of Castor, and lived here, and it is due to their love of gardens that the grounds of themanor house have so many fine trees – great cedars, a silver elm, a Judas tree and in the kitchen garden acordon apple tree 15 yards long and still producing a huge crop of apples. We found living in this old home ofthe bishops the stout hearted non-conformist Sir Richard Winfrey.’

So wrote Arthur Mee in 1945 [1].

Six years earlier Gotch [2] wrote:‘The Manor of Castor belonged to the Dean and Chapter of Peterborough, and was let to a number of tenants.Castor House was almost certainly built by one of the tenants, possibly by Sir Thomas Alleyne or Dr. GilesAlleyne.’

Much earlier, in 1800, Gibson [3] wrote:‘Bishop White Kennett of Peterborough or his predecessor built Castor House, in about 1700. For many yearsthe home of the Bishops of Peterborough who were also Rectors of Castor.’

There is no consensus from these accounts as to when, and for whom Castor House was built. It also raises thequestions of whether or not the house was a manor house, what evidence there is of the Bishops of Peterboroughhaving had a residence there, and if so, for how long.

Dating the building of Castor House and the adjacent Home Farm The present Home Farm with its central chimneystack fireplaces and octagonal Jacobean dovecote is typical of around1650 [4]. The rear portion of Castor House also appears to date from about the same time. It would originally havebeen a two-storey, single pile building, with just one fireplace in the West end and a gatehouse or stable, with lodgingsabove, in the East end. This date was further confirmed when, during recent renovations, a clay pipe dating frombetween 1660 – 1680 was found, in sand, under the stone floor in the West end of the house [5].

It appears that two single pile houses, of equal size, were built at about the same time in the mid 17th century. The twobuildings appear to have beendeliberately sited to avoid one houseoverlooking the other. Thisarrangement is sometimes foundfrom the late 16th century to early18th century when two members ofthe same family jointly farmed butwanted to live as two distincthouseholds [6]. The earliest building,which has been formally dated, is thelarge barn on the corner of WaterLane and Peterborough Road. Thiswas built in around 1600 [7]. Such asubstantial barn implies the presenceof a farmstead nearby. Interestingly,the footings and quoins of HomeFarm and those at the rear of CastorHouse contain a large amount ofBarnack rag stone. Barnack rag stonestopped being quarried around 1600.Its presence in such quantity

Fig 8a. Sir Richard Winfrey outside Castor House circa 1935, taken from his headed writing paper.

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suggests that there may well have been earlier buildings on the site. It is likely that these were related to the WaterLane barn.Circa 1700 Castor House was remodelled into a substantial three-storey, double pile house. The wine cellar with itsbarrel vaulted fine ashlar ceiling is also of around that period.

Was Castor House a Manor House?We know that Abbot Alexander of Holderness (1222-1226) [8] built a hall for his manor at Castor. The location of thismanor is not known. In 1541, the lordships of the two manors at Castor, and most of the Abbot’s lands in Castor weregiven to the newly created Dean and Chapter. Home Farm and Castor House do not appear to be listed as part of theManor of the Dean and Chapter survey in 1649, so it is unlikely that the manor was at Castor House at that time.

Did the Bishops of Peterborough own Castor House and Home Farm?The Bishop, as successor to the Abbot, was granted some land in 1541 for his own personal use in Castor. Being onlyrecently established, the Bishopric of Peterborough was very poor. The new Bishop was granted lands in Castor ‘indemesne’ to try to reduce the shortfall of the income generated from his holdings in Peterborough [9]. We know thatBishop Howland was living in Castor in 1599 and ‘died at his house in Castor in 1600’ [10].

Local lore claims that Home Farm is monastic in origin and had a room where the priests could celebrate mass insecret. Indeed, until 30 years ago, there was a strangely widened corridor, with just one small roof light and a door ateach end, which would certainly have been large enough for such a purpose. During recent renovations a whitewashedroof space with a small door into it was revealed above this part – could it have been a ‘priests’ hole’?

The house of a dignitary, such as a bishop’s was often known as a ‘Mansion House’ if it was not a manor house. Asurvey of the Castor House estate in 1798 refers to Castor House as the ‘Mansion House’ [11]. This is the first clearsuggestion of a link between Castor House and the Bishops of Peterborough. When the Estate was sold in 1796 the‘Church’ was the vendor. As we know that the Dean and Chapter did not own the Estate, it suggests that it was sold bythe Bishop.

Fig 8b. Aerial view of Castor House and surrounding farm buildings circa 1970.

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It appears likely that there were earlierbuildings on the Home Farm site. It istherefore possible that this was the landgranted in 1541 to the newly establishedBishopric, and was the site of BishopHowland’s home.

Who commissioned the building of CastorHouse?There is no documented evidence to show whocommissioned the building works of 1650 orthose of 1700. There were, however, twoBishops with similar names about this timeand both were also Rectors of Castor. BishopThomas White became Rector of Castor in1685 [12] and resigned as Bishop ofPeterborough in 1691. Secondly, BishopWhite Kennet became Bishop and also Rectorof Castor in 1718 [13]. So, if a Bishop Whitecommissioned the building of Castor House itwould seem likely from the dates that it wasBishop Thomas White, between 1685 and 1691.Coincidentally, yet another White bought the estatefrom the Church.

The Whites

In 1796, Rev Dr Stephen White, son of Judge TaylorWhite of Chester, Treasurer of the Foundling Hospital,and Rector of Conington, came into a fortune andpurchased the Castor Estate [14]. His son, WilliamArchibald White of Lincolns Inn inherited it in 1824,which in turn went to his son, Stephen Prescott Whitein 1847.

Prescott White spent a considerable sum of money onCastor House until his death in 1866. He built theboundary stone wall and the gate piers at the front ofthe house, the kitchen garden wall, and the brew housebuilt onto Home Farm. The garden boundary wasaltered at about that time to give Home Farm its ownprivate rear garden. Prescott White started a book ofthe garden in 1857. He notes that there were alreadymany ‘old trees’ and lists those that he intends to plant.Outside was the ‘original stone-faced fishpond of theBishops of Peterborough’ [15]. This pond was alreadybuilt by 1828 and can be clearly seen on ET Artis’ mapdrawn at that time [16]. The large pond had squarecorners, and would have been fed from the spring inWater Lane.

It would appear that Prescott White also substantiallyremodelled the inside of Castor House whilst retainingthe front hall stone floor. The staircase is thought to beearly 18th century, but the newel post has Victorianputty which gives the appearance of ‘fine carving’ on it.The canvas walls of the sitting room have been

8c. Castor House and gates circa 1960.

Fig 8d. Extract from Tithe map 1847 showing gardens surroundingCastor House, and the yard of Home Farm.

Fig 8e. Map drawn by Stephen Prescott White in 1860 showing thatHome Farm now has a garden and that the front boundary wall and

gate piers have not yet been built.

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formally dated to no later than 1850. As the wood panelling surrounding the canvas walls flows uninterrupted throughinto the drawing room and front hall, it seems likely that that this was all part of these works. The front shutter dooralso appears to be part of this work, dating the front door with its wide expanse of glass to the mid 19th century.Stephen Prescott White did not marry, and on the death of his younger brother Charles in 1859, adopted all Charles’children. The sixth child, Frank Armstrong, was born in 1850 and inherited the estate in 1866 on the death of his uncle.Descriptions of life at Castor House at that time are only thinly disguised in ‘Loves Illusion’, one of the novels by JDBerresford, whose father was Rector of Castor from 1864-1897.

In 1910, Colonel Frank White retired to Henley and let Castor House to a Mr Hinchcliffe, a businessman retiring fromSouth Africa [17]. On Frank Armstrong’s death, and that of his wife, in 1912 the estate was left to their four daughters,who divided it up for sale.

Gustave Bonner and Castor House

Gustave Ferdinand Bonner, who had changed his name from Bunheimer at the beginning of the First World War,bought Castor House and 15 acres of the estate in 1915. Bonner also wrote in the garden book that had been started byPrescott White nearly sixty years earlier.‘These records have been interrupted between 1860 and 1915. The rockery was laid down by Mr Hinchcliffe, who alsobuilt the fruit store at the end of the Tennis lawn and planted the wall fruit trees in the kitchen garden and opened outthe 19 beds in the top garden.’

While Bonner was at Castor House, the gardener met with an accident:‘Tuesday, November 24 1917, Mr John Thomas Stranger the gardener at Castor House died in Peterborough RoyalInfirmary as the result of injuries received by a branch of a tree, which he was felling, falling on him. At the inquest itwas noted that he was employed as a gardener at Castor House by Mr Bonner, and that his wages were about 23s aweek’. [18].

Bonner continues:‘Without a gardener from November 1917 to July 1918, when Isaac Bouy was engaged. In 1918 owing to labour scarcity during the war, the spring bedding in both the top garden and Dutch gardenconsisted of forget-me-nots only, in all beds. In June 1918, the stone steps between the tennis lawn and Dutch Garden,in line with Sundial were added. In October 1918, 18 beds in the top garden were sown with grass seeds, leaving onlya pampas grass (planted last year) in no. 2 bed. The roses were taken out of no. 1 bed and parrot tulips planted. Thebeds in the Dutch garden were filled in the autumn with alternately forget-me-nots and primulas.’

Bonner suffered ill feeling towards him because of his German descent. One day the front gates and piers were attackedby the locals and one of the eagles,which then topped the piers, was pushedoff. As a result he decided to sell thehouse [19].

The Winfreys

Sir Richard WinfreyOn 17 June 1919, Sir Richard Winfreybought Castor House from Bonner for£2,500. A 21st birthday party for hisdaughter, Ellen, was held as a house-warming party [20]. In the saledocuments Castor House is referred to as‘formally known as Clarke’s farm’. SirRichard was by then Mayor ofPeterborough, as well as MP for South-West Norfolk. His first career had beenas a chemist, with a keen interest inpolitics. At that time newspapers were anecessary part of becoming a politician,

Fig 8f. The Dutch Garden at Castor House 1920s. The large green house andadjoining vine house can also be seen. The Dutch garden was changed to a small

rose garden by Pat Winfrey and is now lawn.

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so in 1886 he bought his firstnewspaper, the Spalding Guardian, fora nominal £100. It was still to beprinted under contract in Boston bythe vendor, Joseph Cooke. Richard’sstaff consisted of him, one senior andan office boy. He had his own columnin which he attacked the oppositionSpalding Free Press for unbalancedreporting and castigated his politicalopponents. Richard’s next purchasewas the Lynn News; he also startedthe North Cambs Echo over thefollowing six years.

Richard Winfrey’s advice on a mangoing into politics was ‘to get hold ofthe right sort of wife’. This had notproved to be an easy task. He and hisfriend, Harry Millhouse, had bothfallen for the same girl, AnniePattinson. On the toss of a coin it wasdecided that Harry would court her andlater Richard was best man at theirwedding. When six years later Harry died the still single Richard was at last able to court and marry Annie.

In 1893, Richard was surprised to receive an invitation to stand for parliament in the Southwest division of Norfolk. Inthis campaign he rode for a month around the vast rural constituency with literature showing that he had the support ofover 1,000 Lincolnshire men. He had earned this support as a result of his tireless and successful campaigning to getsmallholdings which could then be rented by farm labourers and thus give them some independence from the few largelandowners.

He continued to champion smallholders, and in 1899 formed the ‘Norfolk Small Holdings Association’ to give thesmallholders some financial independence so that they would not be dependent on the Poor Law guardians at the end oftheir lives. Richard was also instrumental in establishing the ‘South Lincolnshire Small Holdings Association’. The twoassociations soon merged to become the ‘Lincolnshire and Norfolk Small Holdings Association’. He was finally electedto parliament for South-West Norfolk in 1906, aged 48, and remained in office for 18 years. In parliament, Richardcontinued his efforts to help settle men on the land. This led to the Small Holdings and Allotments Acts of 1907 and1908 under which, if the counties did not provide smallholdings, they would be provided over their heads. On buying acontrolling share in the Peterborough Advertiser, Richard came to live in Peterborough.

From 1906 – 1923, Richard was the MP for South-West Norfolk. He was instrumental in drawing up the CornProduction Act of 1917, which by 1918 had already added nearly 3 million acres to the national total. Corn prices werethus guaranteed to farmers. Richard also championed Agricultural Wages Boards, which were set up to ensureminimum wages for the first time. After the war he piloted the Small Holding Colonies Bill, and saw it become realitythrough overseeing the allocation of 10-acre holdings of land released by the Crown in Norfolk, to returningservicemen. By 1924, 16,000 ex-Servicemen were settled on holdings, bringing the number of statutory smallholdingsto 30,000. Later Richard offered a personal gift of £25,000 to help provide smallholdings for the unemployed and livedto see the tenants of these smallholdings play their part in the production of food during World War II.

In both 1907 and 1912 there had been talk of Richard being chosen as Mayor. He agreed to the idea on condition thatthe Tories supported his claim to be an alderman as well. This was not accepted so he left the meeting and went outhunting instead. On meeting the ex-mayor that afternoon whilst out riding he heard that Tory votes, with Liberalsabstaining, had put him in the chair in his absence - a procedure never before heard of. Richard asked his solicitor ‘toget me out of this’ but was advised that there was no escape. He accepted the situation but confined himself strictly tomunicipal engagements because of the claims of parliament and South-West Norfolk. In 1914, he was awarded aknighthood. After war was declared anti-German feeling in Peterborough led to crowds smashing shop windows andflinging about the streets meat belonging to Frederick Frank and Frederick Metz, both respected citizens of long

Fig 8g. Sir Richard Winfrey speaking for the farmers’ Red Cross effort circa 1935.

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standing. As Mayor, Sir Richard was asked to come and read the Riot Act so that, if necessary, the police could call onthe Yeomanry who were then billeted in the city and camping in Milton Park. Sir Richard cycled into town and triedreasoning with the crowd who showered him with stones. In return he quickly read the Riot Act and cycled rapidlyhome. The police and troopers made several arrests and on the following Monday Sir Richard swore in a hundred morespecials and asked the citizens to be indoors by nine o’clock. It is thought that this is the last time that the Riot Act wasread in this country.

Sir Richard travelled widely. In 1929 and 1936 he spent time with General Smuts in South Africa. They exchangedacorns from their respective oaks. Sir Richard’s acorn successfully grew into a tree in the wood at Castor House. In1923 Sir Richard bought the adjoining Campions Close for £170.00 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners forEngland.

In 1932 being grateful for 74 happy and successful years, Sir Richard decided to build four homes for retiredemployees. A small tablet can be seen on each of the two pairs of bungalows bearing the words ‘In Gratitude’. Thestone used was taken from a demolished pigeon house, on WT Cooke’s land, in Splash Lane. Sir Richard had bought itfrom the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for £10 in 1925 [21]. It was the largest in the district, 30’ x 24’ with 1,760nests.

In 1933 Sir Richard celebrated his 75th birthday by inviting two hundred employees to Castor House for a party, whichincluded inter-office sports in the grounds and lunch in the village hall. Arthur Mees’ ‘stout hearted non-conformist Sir Richard Winfrey’ said towards the end of his life “If you have a clearconscience that what you do is from a deep sense of duty to your fellow creatures – that is enough. In public life aclear conscience and a thick skin will carry you through”. Sir Richard died at Castor House on April 18 1944.

Richard ‘Pat’ WinfreyDuring the Second World War the newspaper business had struggled and Castor House was heavily mortgaged to helpkeep the company afloat. In 1947 Sir Richard’s son, Richard Pattinson Winfrey, by then chairman, formally groupedthe newspapers in Eastern England to form the East Midlands Allied Press (EMAP). Under Pat’s control the companyexpanded and paved the way for the third generation to carry on in the person of his sons, Richard and CharlesWinfrey, which helped to make EMAP one of the top FTSE 100 companies in the UK.

Following Lady Winfrey’s death in 1951 Pat Winfrey moved into Castor House and comments in a letter to his bankthat the house is full of both dry rot and woodworm. ‘I suspected that part of the house was bad because some while

8h. Staff party at Castor House 1952.

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ago the floor in my mother’s bedroom gave way and the legs of the bed in which she was lying went through the floor’.They were living in one downstairs living room with an electric cooker because the kitchen ceiling had collapsed. PatWinfrey carried out the much needed repairs to the house. Pat continued the tradition of holding staff parties at CastorHouse and lived there until his death in 1985.

Love’s Hill has been the scene of many accidents while the road was the main route from Peterborough to Leicester.Wet weather was thought to be the cause of the accident on 26th December 1958 when an ambulance crashed into theSouth side wall. The driver was almost completely uninjured but the accompanying ambulance man, Alec Broughton,died. At the inquest, John Fuery said he had lived in a cottage on Castor Hill for 3 years, and in that time had attended17 accidents on the hill [22].

In the 1960s the Highways Commission widened the road after first demolishing part of the Castor House boundarywall at the lower end of Love’s Hill. In recompense for land lost, the small piece of land between the wall, (which nowsticks out strangely into Campions Close) and the road was given in exchange. The newly constructed wall was badlybuilt and almost immediately began to crack. Pat Winfrey tried unsuccessfully for many years to get the HighwaysCommission to rebuild it.

Richard Ian WinfreyPat Winfrey’s eldest grandson, Ian Winfrey,inherited the house in 1985. By then the housewas again in a poor state of repair. Ian had thehouse re-roofed, rewired and re-plumbed. In2000 he had the, by then dangerous, boundarywall rebuilt by local builders, MaffitConstruction. Ian also planted up CampionsClose with native tree species in 1991. He stilllives at Castor House with his family.

Home Farm

The Polls In 1918, Frederick Poll, who had been a farm

Fig 8i. The accident involving an ambulance on Love’s Hill. Peterborough Standard January 3rd 1958.

Fig 8j. The Polls by the pond at Home Farm.

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manager at Holywell near Stamford, boughtHome Farm. This was to be the only owner-farm in the area. The farm was then just lessthan 200 acres [23].After Frederick Poll died in 1921, ownership ofHome Farm went to his deaf mute son, Bob.Bob let the farm to his brother-in-law, WalterLongfoot, for whom he then worked as a farmlabourer. Walter Longfoot with his wife andBob Poll then lived at Home Farm [24].

The WinfreysLater when Walter Longfoot died in 1960 PatWinfrey bought the Home Farm. The bulk ofthe Farm’s land was sold to Milton Estates. TheHome Farm farmyard was developed by CharlesWinfrey, one of Pat’s sons, in the 1990s and isnow four homes. Home Farm is now part ofCastor House.

Claire WinfreyClaire married Ian Winfrey in 1988. They have a family of three children. She worked as a doctor in both General Practice and Palliative Care and then started awholesaling business from home. For five years Claire was chairman of Castor Parish Council

Notes1. Arthur Mee, Northamptonshire, 1945, p 70. 2. J. Alfred Gotch, Squires’ Homes and other old buildings of Northamptonshire, 1939, p 1.3. Rev Kennett Gibson, The Parochial History of Castor, written circa 1770, published 1800. 4. Harry Paten et al, Survey of Castor village, 1954 Peterborough Society.5. Adrian Oswald Clay Pipes for the Archaeologist, 1975.6. Pamela Cunnington, How old is your house? 1980. 7. Harry Paten et al, Survey of Castor village, 1954, Peterborough Society.8. Rev Kennett Gibson, The Parochial History of Castor, written circa 1770, published 1800.9. NCRO Document Hatton-Finch Papers 3130A10. Symon Gunton, History of the Church in Peterborough,1686, Ed J Higham 1990, p 81.11. Survey of the Estate of the Rev. Stephen White, 1798. Northampton Records Office.12. See Appendix Two.13. Ibid.14. Sir Richard Winfrey, ‘The garden book’ a notebook detailing changes in the gardens and notable local events, kept by the successive owners of

Castor House from 1850.15. Harry Paten et al, Survey of Castor village, 1954, Peterborough Society.16. E.Tyrell Artis, Durobrivae, 1823.17. Gustave Bonner, ‘The garden book’.18. The Citizen, 27th November 1917.19. Sir Richard Winfrey, ‘The garden book’.20. David Newton, Men of Mark, 1977. This book has been the source of nearly all the material on both Sir Richard and Pat Winfrey.21. Sir Richard Winfrey, ‘The garden book’.22. Peterborough Standard, January 3rd 1958.23. Deeds of Home Farm.24. William Burke, Notes on Michael and Ruth Longfoot, 2002.

Fig 8k. Ian and Claire Winfrey with their children James, Rosalind andDuncan and dog Susie on the steps in the garden at the East end of

Castor House.