Shortmead house

There has been a house at Shortmead since the early 16th century with the first mention in 1543 when a Thomas Butcher, the owner of Shortmead Farm, gave money in his will to St Andrew’s Church in Biggleswade.

John Bricheno was one of the earliest recorded residents of Shortmead House and it is he, who in the 1790s transformed the house into the Georgian manor house you see today. In 1796 he married Elizabeth Kent in St Leonard’s Church, Streatham, Surrey and they lived at Shortmead for about 25 years and had several children. He sold Shortmead in about 1823 and moved to Bishopsgate.

Sadly in the nineteenth and twentieth century the house and estate were auctioned which explains the reduction in the estates acreage. When it was first auctioned in 1884, it sold with 133 acres of land. Today the site covers 24 acres, but the long-term plan is to recover as much of the original area as possible to help restore the original feel of the house and grounds.