Holdenby House

[1] The house was completed in 1583 by the Elizabethan Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton, who refused to sleep a night in the mansion until Queen Elizabeth I had slept there.

[2] It was one of the largest prodigy houses of the Tudor period, rivalling in size both Audley End and Theobalds, and was reputed to occupy approximately 78,750 square feet (7,300 m²), although this probably included the two great courtyards around which it was built.

The facades were symmetrical, with mullioned windows and open Doric arcades, reflecting the Renaissance style of architecture gradually spreading from Italy.

[7]: 263 As of 2014[update], all that remains of Hatton's great house are two Grade I listed archways and the kitchen wing incorporated into the Victorian rebuild, now standing on a lawn, which once gave access to the courtyards; a near-identical third arch bears the date 1659 and so must have been built for Baynes, the Cromwellian owner.

[8] A door salvaged from the demolition of Holdenby palace is believed to be inside Morningside Cottage, a grade II listed building in the nearby village of Creaton.