Marche Manor

Marche Manor is a farmhouse dating to the late 16th century, with significant additions from around 1604 and the late 17th century. It was restored for F.W. Wateridge around 1898. The house is timber-framed with rendered infill panels on a base of coursed sandstone rubble and a red brick plinth, covered by a plain tile roof. The original hall range comprises two framed bays, with a projecting gabled cross-wing to the left, consisting of three bays, and a later gabled wing at the rear to the right. The house is two storeys and has an attic. The timber framing exhibits closely-spaced studs with a middle rail. The cross-wing has long straight tension braces. The first floor is jettied on all sides, featuring a moulded bresummer, with a jettied gable end possessing carved brackets, curved-sided lozenge panels, and a late 19th-century finial dated 1604. The right-hand end of the hall range shows first-floor parallel diagonal braces forming lozenge patterns, and has a jettied first floor to the gable end. Large external brick end stacks are present; one to the left with two star-shaped shafts and a link to the attic, and a rear stack with three star-shaped shafts. The front has three windows. It features late 19th-century wooden mullioned and transomed diamond-leaded casements. A first-floor window to the right and a first-floor window in the gable end have moulded cills, possibly remnants of former oriel windows. A late 19th-century nail-studded boarded door sits between the first and second windows from the right, accompanied by a three-part rectangular overlight and strap hinges. Lean-to additions are situated at the rear. Inside, the hall displays chamfered beams, carved scrolled brackets, a moulded cornice, and a fluted post acting as a pilaster to the north with a carved scrolled bracket. There’s an inglenook fireplace, altered in the late 19th century but incorporating 17th-century carved panels and other decorative elements. The dining room has ogee-stopped chamfered beams and an open fireplace with store reveals and an overmantel, incorporating some 17th-century work and a painted rural scene, likely from a larger original painting. The drawing room exhibits ogee-stopped chamfered beams, a moulded cornice, and a corner fireplace with reused 17th-century panelling and an early 19th-century surround. The first floor has chamfered jowl posts, a moulded cornice, a screen with reused 17th-century panelling and balusters, and a 17th-century panelled door with a fluted frieze. A staircase features turned balusters. The roof structure contains single purlins and collar and tie-beam trusses with V-struts. The house served as the home of the Gough family from the late 15th century until the 18th century, and Thomas Gough (I) likely added the 17th-century cross wing. It later became cottages before being acquired by F.W. Wateridge in 1892. The house is situated within a moated site.