It is an incomplete Elizabethan moated house. When we say 'incomplete', we mean in the full sense of the word. It has its walls and it has window and door ways, but it does not have a roof or floors or even proper stairways.
It is in the middle of nowhere - surrounded by fields and woodlands, including its own orchard!
It was to be the home of Thomas Tresham, who died in 1605, before it could be completed. However the history of the land the house is built on dates back to the Roman times, chosen for its rich ore mines and the hunting in Rockingham forest nearby.
It was left alone for 4 centuries until in 1922 it was protected. It wasn't until excavation and restoration in the 1990s that its unique garden was uncovered and lovingly repaired for visitors to see.
Lyveden, pronounced "Lived-in" (Ironic, right?!) has some of the oldest gardens in the country. Part of it was landscaped into a spiral mound, a feature of Elizabethan quirkiness.
The building itself is designed in the shape of a cross and is perfectly symmetrical - although Catholicism at the time was heavily taxed, which is in part why it was never finished, there are loads of hints at his chosen branch of Christianity; the Passion of Christ was depicted in symbols around the outside of the house. The symbols were shown in sevens, always a mystical number. I'm 100% sure he would have installed a priest bolt hole somewhere, cause you never know when you need to hide your priest.
Aside from being taxed to death, he had to find dowries for his 6 daughters - yes, it's the Elizabethan version of Pride and Prejudice! He did also have sons - who didn't amount to much, though one of them was involved in the Gunpowder Plot!
After we'd spent a lot of time in the orchards and gardens, (sorry about all the blossom photos) we tried to go to Rockingham forest but somehow ended up at Stanwick Lakes - also lovely! So the photos from the Swan onwards are from there. But look, there was a recreation of a Stone Age hut (not sure why) so it's still historical, ok?
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