Broadfield Court

Broadfield Court is a substantial medieval house of considerable architectural significance, first built in the 14th century and subsequently extended and altered over four centuries.

The building began as a 14th-century structure with a cross-wing and porch aligned north-south. A late 16th-century east wing was added, followed by further additions largely at the east end during the 17th and 18th centuries, with additional alterations in the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries. The main south elevation now comprises three distinct ranges: a three-bay stone range (part of the original 14th-century structure), a four-bay brick-faced range, and a taller two-bay stone range.

Constructionally, the house combines coursed sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings in some parts, while other sections are timber-framed and faced with brick. The building is two storeys with attic accommodation, lit by dormer windows. The roofline is characteristically multi-gabled with plain tiling, parapets, and ball finials at the gable ends. Large brick ridge stacks serve the chimneys.

The southern elevation shows considerable detail. The leftmost range has 2-light windows on both floors and a gabled dormer with a lunette window; the central bay features a 19th-century canted bay window with a hipped roof and matching gabled dormer. To its right stands a 14th-century window with two ogee-arched lights (now not in situ). The right bay, formed by the gable end of the 14th-century cross-wing, contains a ground floor stone mullioned and transomed window, and above it a large 3-light mullioned and transomed window with a two-centred head and reticulated tracery. The four-bay brick range has gables above bays 2 and 4, with bay 3 serving as a chimney bay; some windows retain original gauged flat heads. A 19th-century hipped-roofed canted bay window occupies bay 4. The third range is distinguished by a central gable, with a 5-light stone mullioned and transomed window in its right bay. A 3-light attic window with a round head and intersecting glazing bars sits partly within this gable. Windows throughout the building are predominantly 19th-century casements, and at the base of each gable are 19th-century carved corbels depicting human and animal heads.

The main entrance is preserved in the 14th-century north porch and features a four-centred archway with ballflower mouldings and a hoodmould. Above the archway are two cusped ogee-arched lights.

Internally, the main ceiling beams are chamfered. The study retains plank-and-muntin panelling with a brattished cornice. The dining room contains a fireplace with moulded stone jambs and a carved lintel, while its ceiling is decorated with foliated plasterwork. The attic is recorded to retain the 16th-century decorative framing of the east gable. An oak dogleg staircase with turned balusters, probably dating to the 17th century, occupies the central range.

The house historically contained a chapel and is believed to have once extended south to enclose a courtyard. The building originally had an attached granary and barn on the south side of the courtyard, now separately listed.