The Manor House

THE MANOR HOUSE

A small country house dating from around 1650, with 19th and 20th century alterations. Built in limestone ashlar and coursed rubble with some rendered brick, it has a steeply hipped Collyweston tiled roof with some pantiles. A large central ashlar ridge stack rises from the roof, with a single projecting lateral stack to the rear.

The house comprises two storeys with a basement and attic, and a high plinth runs round the entire perimeter. The west front facing the Market Place has three bays with a prominent central bay that projects far forward. The ashlar front of this central bay is particularly striking. A flight of nine stone steps leads up to the central doorway, which has a simply moulded eared doorcase with a very flat profile, a large raised ashlar keystone, and a rather crude wooden lintel with double, partially glazed doors. To the right of the doorway is graffiti scratched into the stone reading "E.E. 1753". The basement contains a two-light cavetto mullion window with casements in the right-hand bay; the left-hand bay has a blocked basement window and an inserted 19th century three-light sliding sash with a small square opening. Two single two-light cavetto mullion windows with casements and moulded cornices flank the doorway, with three similar windows above, the one directly over the doorway lacking a moulded cornice but featuring a projecting moulded string course that runs over the front of the central bay. The central bay rises above the roof line with a single two-light cavetto mullion window, projecting moulded eaves, and a simply moulded pediment. Two hipped dormer windows with two-light casements flank this pedimented bay.

The south front has two bays and features a late 19th century rubble porch with a rendered brick front to the right, incorporating a coped gable with kneelers and a doorway with a basket arch and moulded surround providing access to steps leading down to the basement. A large three-light mullion window sits to the left, alongside a two-light cavetto mullion window with casements and moulded cornice above. To the right is a similar window, now blocked, with a small casement inserted. Two blocked two-light mullion windows with moulded cornices sit above.

The east side comprises three bays with a central projecting bay. The central two-light mullion window has a 20th century casement inserted. The left-hand return wall of the central bay has a two-light 20th century casement with a concrete lintel. The right-hand return wall features a doorway with a simply moulded ashlar doorcase with very flat profile and moulded cornice, with a plank door. A projecting stack to the left of this doorway runs the full height of the projecting bay. The central bay is flanked by single windows: to the left a 20th century two-light casement, and to the right a two-light mullion window with a sliding sash insert. Above the central window is a fixed 20th century two-light window with moulded cornice. The left-hand return wall of the central bay contains a two-light cavetto mullion window with casements and moulded cornice, with a 20th century casement in the bay to the left having a concrete lintel. To the right is a two-light cavetto mullion window with casements and moulded cornice, with a similar window above. The central bay features a blocked mullion window with moulded cornice and a small rectangular opening above. The left-hand return wall of the central bay has a two-light cavetto mullion window with casements and moulded cornice, and the left-hand bay contains a blocked mullion window with moulded cornice. The north front is completely blank.

Internally, the house contains three ashlar fireplaces—one in the north attic, one in the corner of the central projecting ground floor room to the rear, and one in the dining room—all with simply moulded surrounds with a very flat profile, related in style to the front doorway. All rooms feature identical simply chamfered beams with triangular stops. Landing doorways have 17th century chamfered surrounds with 18th century doors. An 18th century panelled, painted cupboard sits on the first floor landing. The staggered purlin roofs remain mostly intact. An early 19th century staircase of no particular interest is also present.

The high quality and sophistication of architectural detail suggest the Manor House is a product of the Protectorate period. It was owned by Lord Clinton, a leading Puritan.