The Old Hall

The Old Hall comprises the remains of a medieval house, now divided into two dwellings. The original core dates to the 15th century, with probable alterations in the 17th century and extensive changes in the 20th century. The 15th-century fabric is constructed from deeply-coursed sandstone, while other parts are of rubble sandstone, red brick, and cement render. The roofs are tiled. The building is two storeys high, with a partial cellar, and has a 1:2 window arrangement on the north side.

The north side of No. 1, the left-hand section, features large quoins around a projecting rectangular garderobe turret on the left. A 20th-century casement window is set within a chamfered, quoined surround, beneath a 20th-century window in a 15th-century two-light opening, which has lost its mullion but retains cusping and a square head. The garderobe continues under the main roof, and there is a brick end stack on the right. No. 2, situated forward and at a lower level on the right, has been extensively rebuilt and includes the remains of a raking buttress on the left of the cellar doorway and a lean-to against the right return. It has four 20th-century casement windows to the ground floor, with dormers of two and one light above, and a 20th-century end stack on the right.

The rear of the building has 20th-century entrances facing the road. Of note is a garderobe set back on the right, with chamfered, quoined surrounds to triangular-headed doorways on each floor and slit windows on each side. No. 2 has a section of chamfered plinth on an end wall. Within the grounds to the west of No. 2 is a rubble-stone well of unknown date.

Internally, No. 1 has triangular-headed doorways leading to the garderobe on each floor. Visible on the first floor’s south wall are three wall posts, and on the east wall are two quadrant braces and heavy-scantling studs. In No. 2’s present kitchen, a chamfered, square-headed ashlar fireplace is set within a 15th-century wall, which has a chamfered plinth on the opposite (north) side. A blocked wooden-framed doorway is also present in the kitchen.

The hall was largely intact until after 1831, when it was described as a rare example of houses belonging to the gentry of the 15th and 16th centuries. It was reduced in size before the 1854 Ordnance Survey. The Old Hall was the seat of the Vavasor family, and passed to the Reresbys of Thrybergh in the 16th century.