Clee Hall Farmhouse

Clee Hall Farmhouse

This house on Clee Road in Old Clee dates from the late 17th century or earlier, with substantial late 19th and early 20th-century alterations and additions carried out for the Grant-Thorold Estate. The building is constructed of red brick in English bond for the early section, with whitewash finish, and features a cobble-built plinth to the west range. The roof is pantiled, displaying late 17th-century Dutch influence.

The building is T-shaped in plan. The early west section comprises a 2-room central-staircase arrangement to the west front with a single-room wing to the rear, later supplemented by a 2-room rear extension. The structure rises to two storeys.

The west front features a central projecting enclosed porch with a part-glazed board door beneath a hoodmould and stone panel with blind quatrefoil detail. Above this rises a shaped gable with moulded brick cornice and brick coping. The first floor contains two 3-light horizontal sliding sashes with glazing bars and sills beneath hoodmoulds; shorter similar windows light the first floor. A stepped and dentilled brick eaves cornice runs beneath shaped gables with shaped kneelers and brick coping. End stacks feature twin diagonal shafts. The masonry detailing includes a plinth with a 3-course brick first-floor band having a central cogged course.

The left gable-end displays a 3-course first-floor band and 2-course brick band at eaves level, with a pair of recessed brick roundels in the gable. The right return has blocked central windows to each floor with similar brickwork details, though lacking the eaves band.

The east wing's south front contains three first-floor windows. An entrance to the left of centre has a 4-panelled door beneath a wood lintel, with a join between builds immediately to its right. A 6/6 sliding sash sits to the right, with 3-light sliding sashes with glazing bars to the left and far right, all with hoodmoulds. A first-floor band and similar first-floor windows are present, with stepped eaves and a shaped gable. Two diagonal-shafted ridge stacks rise from this wing.

On the east wing's north front, an enclosed porch similar to the west front but with a plain lozenge-shaped tablet above the door is positioned to the left of a 3/6 sash and 6/6 horizontal sliding sash with a 20th-century door. The first floor has three 6/6 sliding sashes, one notably narrow. The join between builds on this elevation is slightly further east than on the south front.

The interior of the west range's north room contains a basket-arched fireplace with chamfered brick surround. Oak joists and an ovolo-chamfered spine beam with socket-holes are present, suggesting the beam has been reused. The south room has a roughly-chamfered spine beam. The east room contains a pair of chamfered beams with cyma stops and a wide inglenook fireplace with stairs positioned behind. The upper floor and later sections were not inspected.

The house, formerly known as Mordaunt Hall, was recorded in 1949 as containing some "old oak panelling". It stands within a medieval moated site.