Priory Hotel, Louth, Lincolnshire

I Location

Site Location: Louth, Priory Hotel
National Grid Reference: TF 336 874
County: traditional: Lincolnshire
now: Lincolnshire
Diocese: medieval:
now:
Dedication: medieval:
now (or name of monument):
Type of building/monument: Folly

II General Description

: Folly, general view.

In 1818 the local artist and architect Thomas Espin, FSA, built this Gothic villa, which is now called the Priory Hotel. On the grounds near the lake is a folly that he had constructed from sculptural fragments, which came from Louth Abbey.

III Exterior Features

4. Other

(i) Multi-scallop respond capital with roll mould necking

: Folly, reset fragment No 1, multi-scallop respond.

: Folly, reset fragment No 1, multi-scallop respond.

Upright reed between cones at the angles, otherwise between the cones are raised wedges with raised round moulding running up center. Shields are plain. Uniformly weathered with a major horizontal crack through the entire piece. Based on the vein ridges this is probably made from magnesian limestone.

Dimensions

max. h. (incl. necking)	0.33 m
max. w. (C face)	0.585 m
max. w. ( L face)	0.27 m
max. w. (R face)	0.27 m

(ii) Multi-scallop double respond capital

: Folly, reset fragment No 2, multi-scallop double capital.

Same as 4 (i) but roll mould necking is flatter. Made of single block of stone, which is also likely magnesian limestone.

Dimensions

max. h. (incl. necking)	0.335 m
max. w. (both capitals)	0.675 m
max. w. (large capital, C face)	0.44 m
max. w. (large capital, L face)	0.20 m
max. w. (large capital, R face)	0.22 m
max. w. (small capital, abutting face)	0.235 m
max. w. (small capital, R face)	0.215 m

(iii) Multi-scallop respond capital lying on ground near folly

: Loose sculpture, fragment No 3, multi-scallop capital.

: Loose sculpture, fragment No 3, re-carved back side.

On the multi-scalloped side, there is roll mould necking; raised wedges between cones and shields are outlined with a quirk. The back side of this stone has been carved as an entirely different form representing a series of stacked, flat, bases (?) of some type.

Dimensions

max. h. (incl. necking)	0.28 m
max. w.	0.36 m

(iv) Face fragment reset in folly wall to L of Gothic piscina window

: Folly, reset fragment No 4, human face, frontal view.

: Folly, reset fragment No 4, human face, oblique view.

Hair hangs down on forehead in thick strands that terminate in curls. Hair appears to emerge from underneath some kind of headwear; perhaps originally a diadem. Small right ear evident. Bulging eye with drilled pupil; eyebrow defined by incised line. Nose broken off; slight remnant of incised moustache and possibly beard on cheek.

Dimensions

max. h.	0.19 m
max. w.	0.11 m

(v) Polygonal capital with broad flat leaves; currently on the ground

: Folly, reset fragment No 5, leaf capital.

Roll mould necking from which rise broad, pointed leaves that have a raised oval in their center. Polygonal abacus cut from the same stone has a roll, hollow, and roll.

Dimensions

h.	0.29 m
w. of each face	c. 0.26 m

(vi) Polygonal capital with unusual diamond shaped 'leaves'; currently on the ground

: Folly, reset fragment No 6, polygonal (unfinished?) capital.

: Folly, reset fragment No 6, polygonal (unfinished?) capital.

Necking is gone. Chamfered abacus with quirk on upright. The whole capital is badly weathered.

Dimensions

h.	0.33 m
circ.	1.99 m

(vii) A large, polygonal capital converted into a fountain

: Fountain, fragment No 7, reused polygonal capital.

: Fountain, fragment No 7, reused polygonal capital.

Roll mould necking from which rise upright, scalloped leaves, some of which furl at the tip. Edges of leaves are defined with a quirk. Polygonal abacus cut from same piece of stone has a quirk, hollow, and quirk. A gargoyle, probably of the 19thc., has been attached to the capital. Water bubbles up from the center of the capital top and gushes out the mouth of the gargoyle.

Dimensions

h.	0.37 m
circ.	2.65 m

VII History

Louth Abbey was founded on the marshy Isle of Haverholme in 1137 on land given by Bishop Alexander of Lincoln to the Cistercians. In 1139, at the preference of a large group of monks arriving from the motherhouse of Fountains (Yorkshire), the house was moved to Louth were it flourished as a major player in the county wool trade. Between 1227-46 there is record of 66 monks and 150 lay brothers at Louth Abbey. The 14thc. and 15thc. saw the slow decline of the abbey, which was suppressed in 1536 (see Knowles and Hadcock). In 1818, Thomas Espin collected a number of sculptural fragments from the ruins of Louth Abbey for the construction of his home, Louth Park. He combined the Romanesque fragments recorded here with other medieval pieces to form this garden folly for his estate. Espin died in 1822 and his home has been in the hands of various private owners since that point. For several decades it was a private school. In the 1970s his home became The Priory Hotel.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Based on the few architectural details we know, Fergusson has suggested a date in the 1160s for construction of Louth Abbey. If the polygonal profiles of the capitals here at the Priory Hotel can be accepted as a general indicator of date, then a date in the second half of the 12thc. would fit with that notion. Halsey, on the other hand, believes the rib profiles from the chancel suggest a start date in the 1140s.

IX Bibliography

P. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys in Twelfth-Century England. Princeton, 1984, 51-52, 131-33.
R. Halsey, 'The Earliest Architecture of the Cistercians in England', in C. Norton and D. Park, Cistercian Art and Architecture in the British Isles, Cambridge, 1986, 84-85.
D. Knowles and R. Neville Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses in England and Wales. London, (1953) 1971, 120-22.
N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire. London, 1990, 544.
Victoria County History: Lincolnshire, 2. London, 1906, 138-41.