Peper Harow was for a long time a far more important and wealthy place than Shackleford. The ‘Great House’, converted into flats in 1998, did not even start off in its present position, but was near Oxenford. For several years a rehabilitation centre for children, it suffered extensive fire damage fire and never re-opened. The history of Peper Harow and its occupants is a long and colourful one and deserves to be written in full.
In this section you can see information on the little church of St Nicholas whose site dates back to 1301 and the original documents on the sale and break-up of the Peper Harow Estate (see below).
At one time the Midletons owned most of Shackleford as well as Peper Harow, but on the death of Earl Midleton during World War ll the Peper Harow Estate was sold at auction in 1944 – the second of the great estates in the area to be broken up within three years. The complete auction documents are here.
In 1998 the house was split into flats.
There is a better Peper Harow site with a lot more information and photos here.
Above, left to right:
- The granary, c.1600, resting on twenty-five wooden pillars. Said by Pevsner to be ‘one of the best vernacular buildings in the south of England’
- Peper Harow House, 1765-68, with later additions.
- St. Nicholas Church, 13th Century.