Manor House, Sleaford

The Manor House and Rhodes House, Sleaford
The Manor House (No. 31, Northgate)
Location	Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England
OS grid reference	TF 06768 46001
Built	16th and 17th centuries with significant 19th century additions (No. 31); mid-18th century (No. 33)
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	Manor House, Rhodes House, wall and gate piers to cobbled yard and garden wall to no. 33
Designated	16 July 1949
Reference no.	1168499
Location of The Manor House and Rhodes House, Sleaford in Lincolnshire

The Manor House is a set of connected buildings located on Northgate in the English town of Sleaford, Lincolnshire. A complex arrangement, parts of the Manor House date to the 16th century, but they were extended with the addition of the Georgian Rhodes House and later Gothic-Revival work. It was a private residence until the 20th century, and is now divided into commercial properties and residential apartments. The house was owned by a number of families and individuals, including local banker and businessman Benjamin Handley and Sophia Peacock, whose nephews, Cecil and Frank Rhodes, spent their summers at the estate as children.

The building is divided into two plots: The Manor House (No. 31) and Rhodes House (No. 33). The former is a complex of buildings, mostly in stone. It is accessed through a cobbled courtyard, with a 19th-century Gothic west front, including a small tower; part of the north side of the yard is a 17th-century gabled building. The brick-built Rhodes House faces directly onto the street. Described by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner and John Harris as "a jigsaw puzzle",^[1] the Manor House is notable for its re-use of medieval masonry, some dating to the 14th century and others likely being removed from Sleaford Castle. In 1949, it was recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, recognising it as "particularly important ... of more than special interest."^[2]