View source for Wothorpe

{{Short description|Village in Cambridgeshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox UK place
| static_image_name    = Wothorpe Towers - geograph.org.uk - 1621167.jpg
| static_image_caption = [[Wothorpe Towers]]
| official_name        = Wothorpe
| country              = England
| region               = East of England
| os_grid_reference    =
| coordinates          = {{coord|52.643|-0.483|display=inline,title}}
| post_town            = STAMFORD
| postcode_area        = PE
| postcode_district    = PE9
| dial_code            = 01780
| lieutenancy_england  = [[Cambridgeshire]]
| unitary_england      = [[City of Peterborough|Peterborough]]
| hide_services        = Yes
| population           = 226
| population_ref       = (2001 census) 
}}
'''Wothorpe''' is a village and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[City of Peterborough|Peterborough]] [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] of [[Cambridgeshire]], England. It is in the far north-west of the district, and to the south of [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]] (in [[Lincolnshire]]). The parish borders [[Northamptonshire]] to the west.

==Overview==
[[Wothorpe Priory]] was a "small Benedictine nunnery", founded apparently around 1160.  All but one of the nuns died in the outbreak of [[Black Death|Plague]] in 1349, with the survivor becoming part of the Priory of St Michael in Stamford.  The property was [[dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolved]] by [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]], being granted to [[Richard Cecil (courtier)|Richard Cecil]].<ref>[http://www.peterboroughhiddenheritage.org/heritage/Wothorpe.html Wothorpe House and Towers] Hidden Heritage (retrieved 22 December 2011)</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40224 |title=Houses of Benedictine nuns: The priory of Wothorpe |author=R.M. Serjeantson, W.R.D. Adkins (editors) |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1906 |work=A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 2 |access-date=28 May 2014 }}</ref>

As a parish, it was considered a hamlet within the parish of [[Stamford Baron]], becoming a separate [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] once more in 1866. Historically the parish was part of the [[Soke of Peterborough]], associated with Northamptonshire. Administratively, it became part of the Stamford [[rural sanitary district]] in the 19th century, then later the [[Barnack Rural District]] of the administrative county of the Soke, then passing to [[Huntingdon and Peterborough]] in 1965 and Cambridgeshire in 1974 under the [[Local Government Act 1972]].

[[Wothorpe Towers]] (also Wothorpe Lodge) is a [[Grade I listed building]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1265972|desc=Wothorpe Towers|grade=I}}</ref> The early-17th-century lodge was once part of the [[Burghley House]] estate, built by [[Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter]], eldest son of [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley]]. After Thomas' death, the Towers were leased to [[George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham]], then used as a [[dower house]] and finally, part dismantled to provide an [[Eyecatcher (landscape)|eye-catcher]] in the newly landscaped Burghley park. The historic site including the Towers was purchased from the Burghley House Preservation Trust in 2004 by Janet and Paul Griffin; a programme of repair and consolidation of the Towers has been carried out by them, resulting in the building's removal from the [[Heritage at Risk Register]] in 2008. They established, and are trustees of, the Wothorpe Towers Preservation Trust,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/4037627/full-print|title=Wothorpe Towers Preservation Trust|publisher=Charity Commission|access-date=9 October 2022}}</ref> to which they have gifted the Towers structure. Together, they are responsible for the future care and upkeep of the building, which now stands as a consolidated monument within the grounds of the site owned and occupied by the Griffins as a private residence. 

Wothorpe Farmhouse and barn remain on the Heritage at Risk Register. Both are Grade II* listed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Heritage at Risk search results |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/search-register/results/?searchType=HAR&search=wothorpe |website=historicengland.org.uk |publisher=Historic England}}</ref>

The former grandstand (1766) of the Stamford Racecourse is now also Grade II* listed.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1127413|desc=Disused Grand Stand to former race course|grade=II*}}</ref>  It was restored for residential use in 1997.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Freeman |first1=Jennifer |title=The Grandstand at Stamford: Its History, Repair and Re-use |journal=Transactions of the Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings |date=1998 |volume=23 |pages=15-24 |url=https://www.aschb.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Vol-23.pdf |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref>
 
===Racecourse road===
Within the parish of Wothorpe is the highest point of the historic Soke of Peterborough. The high point of {{convert|81|m|ft}} is located on Racecourse Road at {{gbm4ibx|TF 0353 0417}}, next to the county boundary with Northamptonshire.  Although unmarked, the summit is of interest to participants in [[Peak bagging|hill bagging]] who visit these [[List of counties of England and Wales in 1964 by highest point|high points of the historic counties of England]].<ref name=CountyTops>{{cite web | url=http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/mountaindetails.php?rf=5469 | title=Racecourse Road | publisher=The Mountains of England and Wales | author=Simon Edwardes | access-date=20 May 2014 | year=2001 }}</ref>
[[File:County Boundary - geograph.org.uk - 213901.jpg|thumb|none|{{center|The county boundary near Racecourse Road}}]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10287212
* http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/monasticon/?function=detail&id=899&PHPSESSID=1e6aeff1f699c2e36de654658d0029fc
* Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Volume II

==External links==
* [http://www.wothorpe-towers.co.uk/ Wothorpe Towers]

{{Peterborough}}

[[Category:Villages in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Geography of Peterborough]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire]]


{{Cambridgeshire-geo-stub}}