Leverington Hall on Church Road, Leverington

Image: © Richard Humphrey Taken: 6 Jun 2013

Although not a manor house, Leverington Hall, standing in the middle of the village, near the church and school, is the principal house in the parish. It has been supposed, that the original house on this site was Durham's Place, the property and residence of William, second son of Sir Lawrence Everard (see above-Manors, Fitton Hall). The first authentic owner and occupier of the present house was Robert (d. 1705) son of Thomas Swaine of Wisbech (d. 1639). Robert was living there in 1641. He was a J.P. and became High Sheriff in 1681. He must have succeeded to some of his father's property in 1639, and in the same year he became entitled to substantial benefits under the will of his elder brother Thomas Swaine of Wisbech. His marriage in 1640 with Mary daughter of William Freeman, merchant, of London and Leigh (Surr.), may have brought him additional wealth. All this strengthens the belief that it was Robert Swaine who, out of his then abundance, rebuilt Leverington Hall. He also added considerably to his property at Leverington. He was succeeded by his only surviving son Thomas (1645-1728), a J.P. for the Isle. Thomas's second surviving son, Spelman, succeeded to Leverington Hall and died in 1761, devising the Hall to his nephew Daniel, a merchant of King's Lynn (d. 1782). Daniel thereupon took up residence at Leverington Hall, and became a J.P. and in 1775 high sheriff. By will dated 1780 he directed his trustees to sell all his lands, and in 1785 Leverington Hall with much other property was offered for sale by auction with the buildings, dovecote (situate near the house, at the south-east corner) and about 38 acres surrounding it. The house (which had been let to the Revd. Joseph Plumtree), 38 acres surrounding it, and 32 acres on the opposite side of Church Lane (constituting the entire block between the rectory and the Fencroft house and land belonging to Daniel's nephew Spelman Swaine), were bought by Edward Stone of Tydd St. Mary, who subsequently sold the property to John Johnson. In 1842 Johnson sold the Hall to Thomas Webster of Newton. The latter died in 1862, and by his will gave Leverington Hall with 140 acres of land in Leverington to his son Matthew Webster. Matthew resided at Leverington Hall. He became involved in financial difficulties, however, as a result of which the property had to be sold in lots by the trustee in liquidation in 1879. The Hall with much land was bought by Henry Sharpe of Leverington, who never himself lived there. The Hall was let successively to Medland Newsham, George Carrick, a Wisbech solicitor, and Harold F. M. Peatling. The last eventually purchased it in 1927. Peatling was chairman of the Isle of Ely County Council and High Sheriff in 1925. He died in 1938 and in 1946 the property was sold by Mrs. Peatling to Mr. George Campbell Munday, M.C., tenant for ten years previously, who resided there in 1951. Leverington Hall is a building of mellowed brick with slated roofs. It consists of two gabled wings connected by a slightly recessed central block. This plan suggests an Elizabethan or Jacobean origin-a surmise borne out by two chimney breasts, at the back and on the north side, which are certainly of late 16th century date. The rest of the house may at that time have been of timber; there are no other remains. The house seems to have been rebuilt in the 17th century, probably by Robert Swaine who held the property from 1639 to 1705, and to this date most of the walling and windows belong. At the back there is a rain water head, with the Swaine crest, the initials TSE and the date 1716, which points to a restoration by Robert's son Thomas (d. 1728). To this period may also be ascribed the four fine chimney-stacks of three linked shafts each, two of which' surmount the chimney breasts above mentioned, and the gables at the back, which are constructed in the Flemish manner with skew butts dovetailed into the horizontal courses. The front gables were probably rebuilt in the late 18th century; an estate map with drawing of the house shows curved 'Dutch' gables in this position. The porch is a 19th century addition. The forecourt has a pair of fine brick gate piers topped by stone pineapples. Inside, several rooms have early Georgian wainscoting and exposed ceiling beams. There is a well staircase with turned balusters and plain newels, an early 18th-century fireplace of marble in the hall and one with Adam decoration in the drawing room. From: 'Wisbech Hundred: Leverington', A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4: City of Ely; Ely, N. and S. Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds (2002), pp. 186-197. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21916&strquery=leverington Date accessed: 12 June 2013. There is more information on The English Heritage website, see http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/default.aspx?pid=2&id=48096

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0