Drayton is one of the greatest but perhaps least well known of Northamptonshire’s country houses, as it lies hidden in its park and not visible from any public road.
The history of the house goes back to c.1300 and it developed under the patronage of the de Greenes and then Mordaunts. This great palace-like building with its towers, battlements and cupolas came into its final splendid form in the 18th century.
Then the medieval core and the work carried out in the 1650s by the 2nd Earl of Peterborough were brought to a fitting Baroque conclusion under the hand of the Royal architect William Talman. It was he who was commissioned to create the fine sequence of rooms behind a new façade in the inner courtyard by Lady Mary Mordaunt, daughter of Lord Peterborough, and her husband Sir John Germaine c. 1700.
It came into the ownership of the Sackville family in 1770 and two rooms have superb decoration of that time. It is the latter’s descendants, the Stopford Sackvilles who live at Drayton today.
The house is not open to the public but is available for pre booked parties, for study days and guided tours. These can take place on Wednesday between Easter and September, contact either the Drayton estate office, or Bruce Bailey.
