Cloisters, Music Room And Related Buildings Adjoining To West Of Dinmore Manor House

The group value of this listing relates to the significant architectural and historical interest of the cloisters, music room, and related buildings adjoining Dinmore Manor House. These were constructed between 1932 and 1936 by Richard Hollins Murray, inventor of “Cats’ Eyes,” in a 14th-century Arts and Crafts style.

The buildings are constructed of dressed sandstone with plain tiled roofs and distinctive brick chimney shafts with a twisted design on either side of the principal gable of the Music Room. The layout is roughly cruciform, oriented north/south. The Music Room, acting as a Great Hall, projects northwards from the east arm, while cloisters occupy the east and south arms, and a grotto the west. The south arm culminates in an octagonal South Room, and a short north arm provides an entrance leading to an octagon at the junction of the four arms.

The buildings are one and two storeys high. The south cloisters have eight bays, and the east cloisters have seven. Each cloisters range has an open terrace on its roof, with decorated tracery to the rear wall of the cloisters. The south elevation features a canted window in the gable of the Music Room, topped with a niche pinnacle on the parapet. A two-storey octagon is situated at the junction of the two cloisters ranges, featuring trefoil-headed lancet windows, stone water chutes, cardinal faces, and a two-tier roof capping. The South Room, built over a cellar, has a pierced parapet and a conical-roofed access tower attached to the north. A conical-roofed, circular-plan loggia is situated on the north-east side of the Music Room, with a transverse apse at its north end and picturesque fenestration. Access is available from the apse and the east range of cloisters via steps to the Music Room, and from the north of the octagon through ledged oak doors.

The interior features stained glass by William Morris and Co of Westminster. The Music Room has an oak hammer-beam roof, a gallery to the south, and an inglenook to the north. Stained glass depicts allegorical scenes, including Kerak de Chevaliers, "Canterbury Pilgrims," and a Peacock window. The octagon features detached columns. The grotto has bright stained glass portraying a tropical island scene, and the South Room has glass illustrations depicting illustrious Knights Hospitaller.