Lacon Hall

Lacon Hall is a farmhouse, now a house, dating probably from the 15th century, with significant remodelling in the late 16th century, the mid- to late 18th century, and the early 19th century, alongside later additions and alterations. The walls are rendered brick, masking what was originally a timber frame, and the roof is slate. The original design seemingly featured a 3-bay open hall, which was floored over in the late 16th century, and a gabled cross-wing on the left, which is now truncated and projects to the rear. A late 18th-century range is situated at the rear, between the hall range and the former cross-wing, and a late 20th-century addition stands at right angles to the rear on the right. The house is two stories high and has a dentilled eaves cornice, along with a floor band to the former cross-wing. There are 1:3 windows, which contain mid-20th-century casements; those on the ground floor have 19th-century segmental heads. A 19th-century gabled porch, with a 4-panel door and a rectangular barred overlight, is situated roughly in the centre of the hall range. The cross-wing has a massive, stepped external end stack with paired and rebated shafts to the front gable, and a pigeon nesting ledge with an infilled opening at the top. There is also an integral end stack to the right of the hall range, and an external end stack to the rear of the late 18th-century addition. A massive stack is present on the cross-wing. Inside, jowled wall posts (mostly visible on the first floor) divide the house into a hall range of 3 wide framed bays and a cross-wing of 2, possibly originally more, bays. The hall and cross-wing feature deep-chamfered ceiling beams and richly moulded joists on both the ground and first floors. A tie beam to the left truss of the hall range bears sawn-off, closely spaced posts, indicating a former screen, and the projecting beam to the left might be part of a gallery, originally accessed from the cross-wing. There’s a 18th-century staircase with side panelling, a moulded handrail, and later stick balusters in the rear left corner of the hall range. The roof structure above the tie beam level was completely remodelled, incorporating late 18th- or early 19th-century queen-posts and reusing timbers from an earlier roof. There is also 17th-century rectangular oak panelling within the roof space, though it is not in its original position. The 20th-century addition to the rear is not of particular architectural interest. The house was formerly moated.