Rye House, Stanstead Abbots

In the civil parish of Stanstead Abbots.
In the historic county of Hertfordshire (Modern Authority of Hertfordshire, 1974 county of Hertfordshire).

Site of a C15 fortified manor house. The gatehouse, moat, two stretches of walling and two chimneys survive. The house was built circa 1443 and in 1683 was the scene of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles II. It had been converted for use as the parish workhouse by 1834. Circa 1868, Henry Teale developed the site as a pleasure garden, turning the moat into an ornamental feature. The gatehouse is a fine example of early brick construction, with a number of significant features including the very early use of moulded bricks. It is a two storey structure, now roofless, with a museum on the ground floor. The two stretches of rubble walling stand on the inner side of the moat, to the west and south east of the gatehouse. They presumably formed part of C15 house and were repositioned circa 1868. The two brick chimneys currently act as gateposts and were probably repositioned at the same time as the walls. The spiral, fluted chimneys are about 3m high and stand to the south of the gatehouse. Licensed 1443 to Sir Andrew Ogard and others.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1443 July 7.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 355970)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL38550994

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 367226

• Web site links
  • http://www.hertsdirect.org/libsleisure/heritage1/archaeology/moreaboutarch/archsites/ryehouse/
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p47
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p289
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p106
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p221
    Renn, D.F., 1971, Medieval Castles in Hertfordshire (Chichester) p18-20
    Page, Wm (ed), 1912, 'Parishes: Stanstead Abbots' VCH Hertford Vol3 p366-73 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43627
    RCHME, 1910, An inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire p210-11
    Andrews, 1905, in Standing, Mem. Old Herts. (London) p136-47
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p133-4
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p148
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p281
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol2 p248-50
• Journal Articles
  • Smith, T.P., 1975, 'Rye House, Hertfordshire, and Aspects of Early Brickwork in England' Archaeological Journal Vol132 p111-150 [plan]
    Andrews, R.T., 1902-4, Transactions of the East Hertfordshire Archaeological Society Vol2 p32-45, 88-89
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Charter Rolls Vol6 p38