Thomas Sutton, who founded the Charterhouse in 1611, lived for a period in Balsham, Cambridgeshire. His house was most likely “Nine Chimneys” (pictured above), which is rumoured to have been built in c.1583 on the site of an earlier manor house owned by Bishop Hugh.

Only one wing of the house remains to this day. This has an exposed timber frame and a tiled roof with dormers and red brick stack. Owing to its great age, it has received grade II listed status, though the property is not open to the general public, and must be accessed via a private road.

It was in Balsham, in 1602, that Sutton’s wife died; an event that some historians have argued did much to lead Sutton, a childless millionaire, with no direct heir, to project some great and enduring work of charity.

The Charterhouse in stained-glass.

The cover of a “Guide to Balsham Church”, 1930, which depicts Thomas Sutton.

An image taken from the Old Charterhouse Scrap Book, dated 1930.