Rushton, Northamptonshire

Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles


Here, 4 miles NW of Kettering, is Triangular Lodge, built by Sir Thomas Tresham in 1593-1596 (or 1594-1597 or 1595). It is one of the few triangular buildings in England. Tresham was a Catholic (spending some 15 years in prison because of this) and somewhat of a mystic numerologist. The whole design of the Lodge is based on the number three and its symbolism. He connected three with his own surname and used a trefoil as his emblem. Each side is 3313=100333\large\frac{1}{3}\normalsize = \large\frac{100}{3}\normalsize ft long (Barton says 33 ft 3 in), with three storeys and three windows, etc. The interior has three floors, each with three hexagonal rooms, each with a triangular corner. (Barton says each floor has a hexagonal room, with three triangular corners and this seems more likely.) The inscriptions all have 33 letters. It is an Ancient Monument and open to the public. [1]; [2]; [3]; [4]; [5] Barton dates it as 1593 and notes that 1593 is divisible by 3 and that the quotient, 591, is divisible by nine. In fact, 1593 = 33 × 59. Burton says the date is given as 93, reinforcing the trinitarian mysticism.
See THIS LINK

A mile or so west is another of Tresham's mystical buildings, Folly House, at Lyvedon New Buildings. This is based primarily on five, but three, seven and nine also occur. [6]


References (show)

  1. Lord Harlech, Illustrated Regional Guides to Ancient Monuments. Vol. 3: East Anglia and The Midlands, HMSO, (1936), 2nd ed., (1955), 4th amended ptg, 1962, pp.51-52 & 77
  2. Lambton, Lucinda. An Album of Curious Houses, Chatto & Windus, 1988, pp.2 & 49-51
  3. Hogg, Garry. Odd Aspects of England, David & Charles, Newton Abbott, 1968, p.10 with photo on p.11
  4. Barton, Stuart. Monumental Follies An exposition on the eccentric edifices of Britain. Lyle Publications, Worthing, Sussex, 1972. pp.132-133
  5. Burton, Anthony. The Shell Book of Curious Britain. David & Charles, 1982. pp.65-66.
  6. Barton, Stuart. Monumental Follies An exposition on the eccentric edifices of Britain. Lyle Publications, Worthing, Sussex, 1972. p.133.

The Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles was created by David Singmaster.
The original site is at THIS LINK.