Building record MLI33957 - Ellys Manor House, Great Ponton

Summary

Ellys Manor House, formerly The Old Rectory, and a former medieval manor house in Great Ponton. It contains one of the most extensive and important sets of 16th century wall paintings in the country.

Type and Period (5)

  • (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1300 AD to 1800 AD?)
  • (Early 20th Century to Mid 20th Century - 1923 AD to 1965 AD?)
  • (Mid 20th Century to 21st Century - 1965 AD? to 2050 AD)
  • (Post Medieval to Modern - 1800 AD? to 2050 AD?)
  • (Post Medieval to Modern - 1800 AD? to 2050 AD)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

The Old Rectory was originally a medieval manor house built in the 14th century, located on the north side of Dallygate in Great Ponton. It was enlarged in 1520 by Anthony Ellis, a Calais wool merchant, who also built the church tower at Great Ponton. It is now a house, and is built of limestone with a pantile roof. For the full description and the legal address of this listed building please refer to the appropriate List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. {1}{2}{3}{4} The house contains a collection of very important and rare wall paintings, which on stylistic grounds are unlikely to be part of the original decor, but seem to date to the first half of the 16th century. {5}{6} The wall paintings were studied in 2005 by Carrick and Ryder, who believe them to be amongst the most extensive and important paintings of their period in the country. They state that the manor house was build in the late 15th century by Anthony Ellis, who was known as the Lord of the Manor in 1519. The Ellis family is known to be at the manor house in 1529. Carrick and Ryder suggest that the manor house was enlarged in about 1520 and it was soon after this that the wall paintings were commissioned, probably by Thomas Ellis, brother of Anthony. The original manor house was purchased by The Church in 1923 and became the rectory (also called the Vicarage, the Parsonage and the Old Rectory). After it became surplus to Church requirements, it was sold into private ownership and given the name Ellys Manor House. {7} The wall paintings are located on the upper floor, and were first discovered in the 1930s, when the Rector's son knocked away a small portion of plaster from the main bedroom wall. Further paintings were revealed as more of the plaster was removed by the Rector during the 1940s. The paintings are thought to be similar in design to the French verdure style of tapestry, showing stylised scenes of trees, animals, foliage and flowers, topped by a frieze of elaborate scrolls. Each scene has a central group of three trees, possibly representing the Trinity, but are otherwise secular in design. The depicted animals include a peacock, deer, a lion and a very clear representation of one of Aesop's fables - that of the Wolf and the Crane. The painting shows the wolf with a bone stuck in its throat, and the crane reaching in with its beak to remove the bone (and is therefore thought not to be a depiction of the very similar fable, the Fox and the Stork). Traces of further paintings in other areas of the upper floor can also be seen, along with evidence of several other probable paintings that have since been destroyed. The paintings, together with the presence of large fireplaces in each of the rooms and great hall, indicate the wealth and prosperity of the Ellis family, and the great importance of the wool trade at this time. {8}

Sources/Archives (8)

  •  Index: Ordnance Survey. Ordnance Survey Card Index. SK 93 SW: 7.
  •  Index: Lincolnshire County Council. Sites and Monuments Record Card Index. SK 93 SW: AL.
  •  Index: Department of the Environment. 1987. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. 190.003, 004; 4/95.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William White. 1856. History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire - Second Edition. p.423.
  •  Unpublished Document: 1980. PARISH FILE. GREAT PONTON. REPORT TO GRANTS SUB-COMMITTEE.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Nikolaus Pevsner and John Harris, with Nicholas Antram. 1989. Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Second Edition). pp.332-3.
  •  Article in Serial: Muriel Carrick and Charlotte Ryder. 2005. 'Early Sixteenth Century Domestic Wall-Paintings at Great Ponton, Lincolnshire' in Journal of the British Archaeological Association. vol.158, no.1, pp.82-96.
  •  Article in Serial: 2017. 'Ellys Manor House: A 16th Century Woll Merchant's House' in Wool Producer. Spring 2017 issue, pp.11-4.

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Location

Grid reference Centred SK 92460 30424 (30m by 15m) Surveyed
Civil Parish GREAT PONTON, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE

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Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

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