Hinwick House

Summary

Hinwick to 1766

The Manor of Brayes in Podington, including the site of the present Hinwick House, descended to the Orlebar family through the marriage of George Orlebar and Margaret Childe in c.1620. The existing Turret House and attached outbuildings are all that remain of the previous manor house. The Orlebars continued to rent property in Harrold. Richard Orlebar (1671-1733), however, married Diana Astry, daughter and coheiress of Samuel Astry of Henbury, Gloucestershire, a relation of the Astrys of Wood End, Harlington. As the Clerk of the Crown to the Court of the Exchequer, Astry accumulated a considerable fortune. He used it to create a substantial estate based on the Great House, Henbury, which he rebuilt. Samuel had been born in 1632, a member of the Harlington Wood End family. On the death of Sir Samuel's widow in 1704, Richard and Diana were entitled to a third share of Sir Samuel's estate.

By 1708, the work had started on their great joint project: to rebuild Hinwick. Meticulous accounts were kept of payments to the individual workmen, who were paid on a day-to-day basis. The work was controlled by master mason Richard Knight of Weldon, Northamptonshire, who performed a similar task at Colworth House, (built from 1715 onwards), and probably at Hinwick Hall. Much of the stone came from local pits but a number of loads came from Weldon. The gates to Hinwick House, and probably Hinwick Hall, were provided by the well known ironsmith Thomas Warren of Cambridge.

Creating a house from scratch was a rare event in Bedfordshire. What sort of house did Knight build?

Although totally unlike Henbury in most ways, Hinwick does include something of the new Baroque, as well as features from earlier types of house. The Baroque full entabulature over the pilasters on the entrance front has been noted by Dr. Andor Gomme in his notes on the history of the house. This is in contrast to the long gallery mentioned as being on the second floor, very much more a feature of an Elizabethan house.

The entrance or east front is based on a scaled down version of Buckingham House, a favourite for master masons such as the Smiths of Warwick to imitate and modify.