Shalem House The Friary 1 To 4

Shalem House, originally The Friary, is a large house dating to the early 17th century, with significant alterations around 1720, 1868-77, and a restoration in approximately 1987. The building is constructed of coursed squared rubble with ashlar and brick dressings, and has slate and plain tile roofs with ridge stacks.

The east-facing entrance front has a plinth and quoins, and features three storeys with a three-window arrangement of 18-pane sashes. Above these, there are three six-pane sashes, and below, three plain sashes. A single-storey porch with a parapet and a datestone inscribed "C G B 1876" provides access via a Tudor arched double door with a label mould. To the right return is a three-light cross mullioned bay window. Above this is a cross range with a three-light stone mullioned window, one light blocked, and a six-pane sash in a chamfered surround. The left return has two early 18th-century wooden cross casements on the ground and first floors; on the first floor, one is blank, and the other is renewed within a 18th-century stone surround. Above this are three stone mullioned casements, and two box dormers with three-light casements. The rear elevation has irregular fenestration featuring wooden cross casements and stone mullioned windows.

To the right and rear of the main block is a double-gabled two-storey addition dated 1868. A south-east range, now Shalem House, has a plinth, quoins, a moulded string course, and a stepped coped gable, with a plain tile roof and external stacks. The south-west wing retains several 17th-century loop windows. A parallel 19th-century brick range has segment-headed sashes. A gabled west wing, dated 1876 and 1877, features mullioned windows and cross casements.

The interior includes an early 17th-century dogleg oak staircase with an intersecting string, turned balusters, ball finials, and drops. A first-floor room has bolection moulded wall panelling.