Manor House With Attached Courtyard Wall At Rear

The Manor House with attached courtyard wall is a complex building formed from the Old Whalton Manor, dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. It was significantly remodelled and extended in the late 19th century by Lorrimer, and further altered internally between 1908 and 1909 by Sir Edwin Lutyens for Mrs. Eustace Smith. Part of the original manor now forms West Manor House, a separate residence, and a linking range connects it to the main house.

The south elevation presents four distinct sections. The left-hand section, five bays wide, is now West Manor House. Adjacent is a three-bay link block designed by Lutyens, featuring panelled double doors under an elliptical arch, flanked by half-glazed double doors with raised lintels and stepped keystones. Sash windows with 18 panes are placed above, alongside tripartite windows with metal-framed casements, heavy canted oriels, small-paned sash windows, moulded cornices and weather-boarded panels. To the right is a lower, six-bay section, formerly cottages, with French windows and sash windows. The original manor house, the farthest right section, has a central doorway with a metope frieze and dentilled pedimented hood. Coped gables with moulded kneelers, and stepped and corniced stacks are present.

The rear elevation features an entrance bay mirroring the front, flanked by quadrant-shaped stair projections with rock-faced stone and semi-conical roofs, reminiscent of an Edwardian castle gatehouse. A wall with a heavy coping connects these projections, enclosing an oval courtyard with concentric paving. To the left is a ten-bay rear wing with sash windows.

Inside, a groin-vaulted carriage entrance opens into a baroque entrance hall with Gibbs surrounds to doorways and a large moulded fireplace. A stone winder stair, with a ribbed barrel vault, ascends to a landing and a long gallery overlooking the courtyard. An anteroom on the first floor has a deeply-coved ceiling and windmap, while a circular bedroom (formerly the dining room) features a high domed ceiling, reportedly a model for the Viceroy’s throne room at New Delhi. The Lutyens section exhibits high-quality baroque-style woodwork and impressive contemporary bathrooms. Further east, the Oak Room (formerly the library) contains Lorrimer frieze and panelling said to be from Benton Church.