Blackden Manor

Blackden Manor is a former manor house, now a large private house, dating from approximately 1597. The original timber frame was encased in red brickwork in the late 18th century, with 20th-century additions. It has a sandstone slate roof. The main building is two storeys and an attic, with three bays, and a set-back one-bay wing to the northeast. A four-bay east return and a three-bay triple-gable west return are also present. The centre bay, set back two metres, features a pair of fully glazed oak doors topped by a shell pediment supported on moulded brackets. Above the doorcase is a three-light casement window, and the doorcase is flanked by tall, narrow, semicircular-headed windows. Stone mullion windows with rectangular leaded glazing are found on the front, with 1, 3, 5, and 7 lights respectively. The ends of the gables are set back above a slender band which rises over the first-floor windows, each containing a single stone-dressed light. The west return primarily has four-light timber mullioned casement windows. A small area of timberwork, arranged in a chevron pattern, is visible at first floor level on the east return, alongside a replaced ten-panel oak door with a stone surround and a two-storey canted bay window with stone mullions. The east return also has three four-light stone mullion windows on the ground floor and three three-light timber mullion windows on the first floor. High standing chimneys with angled flues and stone caps are present, along with a large square stack with chevron decoration. Inside, exposed timber framing is visible in several walls. There are bevelled beams, some with cross framing, and two-panelled doors with "H" hinges. One room is fully panelled in oak with raised and fielded panels and bolection moulds. A Jacobean oak staircase with turned balusters and ball finials to the newels leads to the first floor.