Rushton Triangular Lodge, Northamptonshire

If you think that the best things always come in threes, then a visit to Rushton Triangular Lodge is a must. Everything about this place is triangular. It has three walls and three storeys, with three windows in each. Each wall is topped by three triangular gables and in the centre is a three-sided chimney. On the exterior walls the decoration also revolves around the number three.

Rushton Triangular Lodge

The Lodge is not the easiest place to find, being approached via country lanes, although it is quite close to the Northamptonshire towns of Kettering and Corby. It can be glimpsed for a few seconds from trains that pass very close on the main London-Leeds railway, between Kettering and Market Harborough.

Rushton Triangular Lodge is under the care of English Heritage, and is open to visitors from the beginning of April to the end of October.

The Lodge was built between 1594 and 1597 by Sir Thomas Tresham (1545-1605), the local landowner who maintained his Catholicism during the reign of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I. He tempered his religious views sufficiently to allow him to be knighted in 1570, but he still spent several years in prison and paid enormous fines whenever an anti-Catholic scare swept the country. Sir Thomas’s son, Francis, was involved with the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in that he knew of it but did not inform the authorities, with the result that he died in prison.

Sir Thomas’s religious zeal accounts for the Triangular Lodge, because it is a sermon in stone based on the theme of the Holy Trinity. The building is almost a “folly” but not quite, because it was used to house the estate’s “warrener”, the steward who looked after the rabbit warrens that supplied food for the manor house and much temptation to poachers. Whether the warrener was happy to be reminded of master’s religious sensibilities every time he stepped in or out of his front door is not on record!

Interpreting the Lodge

The entrance is between two of the windows on the south-east side, up a short flight of steps that lead to the middle of the three storeys. Above the doorway is a Latin inscription that reads “Tres testimonium dant”, which is from the first epistle of St John and translates as “There are three that bear witness”, therefore setting the tone for the whole building, as well as being a pun on the name “Tresham”, which was often shortened to “Tres” by family members. There are therefore two themes at work here, one being religious, the other personal, because references to the builder are interleaved with those to the Trinity and, equally importantly, the Mass.

Each face of the building can be seen as a reference to one of the persons of the Trinity, as evidenced by the frieze that runs below the gables on each side and bears a Latin text of exactly 33 characters per side (the frieze is also 33 feet long).

On the south-east face the text reads “Aperiatur terra & germinet salvatorem”, meaning “Let the Earth open and bring forth a Saviour”, which is from Isaiah chapter 65. Other symbols on this wall, including a seven-branched candlestick, clearly indicate God the Father.

The north face inscription reads “Quis separabit nos a charitate Christi”, meaning “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”, from Romans chapter 8. There are images of a pelican, an ancient symbol for Christ, and nine chickens referring to Sir Thomas’s nine children.

On the south-west face is “Consideravi opera tua Domine et expavi”, from Habakkuk chapter 3, translated as “I have considered thy works, O Lord, and been afraid”. Symbols for the Holy Spirit include a dove and Pentecostal fire.

There are also inscriptions that continue right round the building, and cannot be read without walking all round. There are two letters above each of the upper-floor windows, which together read “Mentes tuorum visita”, or “Visit the minds of thy people”. On the central gable of each face is an inscription that, when put together, reads “Respicite non mihi soli laboravi”, meaning “Consider that I laboured not only for myself”, being a reference to the builder. In large letters on each face are the initials TT, and the date 1593, split between two faces. This was the year in which Sir Thomas planned the Lodge, although the work only started the following year.

Most visitors will head up the steps and into the Lodge, although the interior is nothing like as interesting as the exterior. The three rooms, one above the other, are hexagonal in shape, leaving small triangular closets in two of the corners and a spiral staircase in the third. There are, however, many more triangular shapes and symbolic references to the Tresham family to be found.

This is a very unusual building to visit, for the reasons given above. It is not recommended as a “wet day” trip, because you need to spend far more time looking at the outside than the inside if you are going to be able to appreciate all its eccentricities.

© John Welford