Humble, But Fit For A Lord

The Pitt family controlled one of the kingdom’s most notorious Parliamentary boroughs from this now compact house

- Clive Aslet

Visitors to old Sarum in Wiltshire, the iron Age hill fort and predecessor to Salisbury that was abandoned in the 13th century, may have noticed an exceptionally pretty house in stratford-sub-Castle, the village that stands at its foot. Built of a silvery coloured stone, it has two broad gables to either side of the front door. only one bay connects the two gables, making this many people’s dream: a compact house that, nevertheless, has a good deal of architecture about it.

The formality is emphasised by two runs of pleached limes, flanking the forecourt (Fig 4). A few yards away, more limes lead to st Lawrence’s Church, so it may come as no surprise that Mawarden Court, the house with the gables, was once the vicarage.

However, all is not as it seems. A plaque on one of the gate piers reveals that this house has been more than a vicarage: the future Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder, the 1st Earl of Chatham, born in 1708, spent his early years here. on investigation, moreover, it appears that the house was bigger at that date than it is now: the centrepiece between the two gables was originally three bays wide, rather than one. in the mid 19th century, the building was reduced with meticulous care and the right-hand gable moved to maintain the balance of the composition.

For the Pitt family, the interest of Mawarden lay in Old Sarum. As a defunct medieval borough, it retained the right to send two members to Parliament, although, by the 17th century, nobody was actually living there. Votes were cast by the absentee tenants of burgage plots, appointed by the lord of the manor. For this reason, it was the most notorious rotten borough in the kingdom.