Gatehouse at Old Hall

Gatehouse at Old Hall

This is a Grade I listed gatehouse, originally built in the 14th century with significant alterations made in the early 18th century. The building stands in Mavesyn Ridware and represents an important survival of medieval defensive architecture.

The structure comprises timber framing of massive scantling, which has been largely refaced and partly replaced in brick and stone, beneath a plain tile roof with raised verges. The main range is aligned east-west, measuring 4 bays, with a single-bay annexe projecting at each end on the same alignment. The building rises to 2 storeys, with a stone ground storey and first floor offset.

The north-facing principal elevation displays a central range containing four 18th-century chamfer-mullioned first-floor windows, each of 2-light, flanked by a pair of slightly lower annexes. Small oval lights pierce both the ground floor and the first floor of the annexes. A gateway to the left of centre features an ogee-moulded segmented arch beneath a hood mould with ball stops.

The rear elevation reveals the medieval timber-frame construction more extensively. Here, three bays expose timber framing at first-floor level with massive curved braces forming semi-circular patterns. The left-hand bay at first-floor level has been refaced in brick and contains a 2-light chamfer-mullioned window. The brick ground storey has a 2-light window to the left of centre and a single-light window to the right. A segmental arched gateway to the right of centre carries a quarter-round moulded arch. To the left are a boarded door and a 2-leaf garage door, with the flanking annexes set back at each end.

A projecting gabled stair wing, dating to the early 18th century, is attached to the rear of the western annexe. It is constructed in stone with a stone-coped brick gable and a fine boarded door.

Interior

The gatehouse range was originally entered via a gate passage, which retains massive first-floor beams and joists within timber-framed side walls. On each side of this passage is a blocked ogee-headed doorway. From this passage, doors provided access to a 2-bay room to the west and a single-bay room to the east.

The first floor, now accessed via a staircase in the 18th-century wing to the south-west, is open to the roof. The main range was originally divided into a pair of 2-bay chambers by a central closed truss. An ogee-headed door in the end wall of each chamber leads into the associated annexe.

The roof structure displays considerable sophistication. The arch-braced tie beams feature crown posts with moulded caps and bases, and four-way bracing extending to the crown plate and rafters. Immediately beneath each crown post, on the soffit of the two tie beams, is a carved boss. The three closed trusses have braces extending up to the crown-plate and downwards to the tie beam, together with two vertical struts extending from tie beam to rafters. The insides of the open trusses are fillet-moulded. The wall plates are quarter-round moulded with sophisticated scarf joints. The roofs over the annexes, though less well preserved, appear to have incorporated crown post construction.

The southern roof truss contains a re-used timber as its tie-beam, probably the original northern gate arch which was later replaced in stone; this re-used timber retains a quarter-round moulding.

Historical Context

According to the antiquary Stebbing Shaw, the gatehouse formed one side of a quadrangular building which was still standing in the 1660s. It was built by the Mavesin (Malvoisin) family and came to the Cawardens in 1403.