Kettlethorpe Hall is a Victorian house in

Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire Kettlethorpe is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln. The villages of Drinsey Nook and Laughterton lie within Kettleth ...

, noted for its connection to Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. It encloses fragments of the former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

including the medieval

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

, within the surviving

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

. It is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. Sir Hugh Swynford (died in 1371) married Katherine Roet, whose sister Philippa is believed to have been the wife of

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

. Lady Katherine later became governess to the children of

John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399), was an English royal prince, military leader and statesman. He was the fourth son (third surviving) of King Edward III of England, and the father of King Henry IV. Because ...

, the third surviving son of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

, and subsequently his mistress. Their four children, the Beauforts, were eventually legitimised when Gaunt took Lady Katherine as his third wife, in 1396. She at one time lived at Kettlethorpe Hall. The present house was built in the early 1700s for Charles Hall, MP, whose grandfather had acquired the estate by marriage. He died without issue and bequeathed Kettlethorpe to his half-brother's son, Charles Amcotts, MP of Harrington Hall. He in turn left it to his sister Anna-Maria, who had married Sir Wharton Emerson, who changed his name to Amcotts. After passing by marriage to Sir William Amcotts-Ingilby it was inherited by Weston Cracroft Amcotts, MP, who carried out extensive remodelling of the house in 1863. It then further passed down in the family to Sir Weston Cracroft-Amcotts, who sold it in 1961. The house contains walls, some carved heads and a small oak-panelled room dating from the 17th century. In the old tower is an early 18th-century panelled dining room with a late 18th-century marble fireplace. The drawing room's stucco ceiling is 18th-century, and the library and front hall are Victorian. The moat and its cleaning was one of the most widely used examples in the MPs' expenses claims scandal during 2009. This contributed to the retirement of its owner, the 3rd Viscount Hailsham, from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

and the granting to him of a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

allowing him to sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Notes

{{coord, 53.2706, -0.7295, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Lincolnshire Grade II listed buildings in Lincolnshire *