Aylestone Hall

Aylestone Hall is a mediaeval house with significant alterations across various periods, though its external appearance largely dates to the 19th century. The house consists of a central block flanked by two wings, with rooflines indicating distinct phases of construction: a hipped slate roof to the left, a taller slate roof over the centre, and a lower continuation of the same roof to the right. A two-storey gabled porch, appearing Jacobean but likely from the 19th century, is situated to the left of the central block, with a four-centred archway leading to an 18th-century door. Large, roughcast chimney stacks feature hexagonal shafts on substantial bases.

The rear elevation presents two projecting wings – the right-hand wing gabled and the left-hand wing hipped. A door on the right-hand side features an open pediment and a round-arched fanlight with Gothic tracery. An external rainwater head bears the initials F.J.M. from 1768, referencing the Manners family.

The interior likely originally contained a central great hall open to the roof, with separate solar and kitchen wings, accessible via a screens passage. A floor was inserted in the 16th or 17th century, preserving the ground floor as a great hall. Subsequent partitions and features were added later. A northern ground floor room is lined with early to mid-17th century oak panelling and features a 19th-century mantelpiece. New stairs incorporate reused 17th-century splat balusters. Upstairs, some rooms retain beamed ceilings with chamfered tie-beams supporting Queen posts.

Despite the lack of demonstrably mediaeval features, the proportions and overall form suggest a mediaeval origin. Tradition holds that Prince Charles Stuart (Charles II) lodged here during the Battle of Leicester. A south wing exhibits an exposed stud partition on the upper floor, with arched braces supporting the tie beam. The partially exposed roof structure also displays arched braces to the purlins. This supports the theory that the southern wing represents the earliest section of the building, likely an original hall converted into a solar wing after the addition of a larger central hall, dating probably to the early 16th century.