Clifford Manor

Clifford Manor

Manor house, dating from around 1700, probably built on the site of an earlier manorial court house. The building underwent significant alterations and restoration following a fire in 1919-21, carried out by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

The house is constructed of brick with ashlar dressings, beneath a hipped roof of graduated stone slate with several brick stacks. It follows an H-plan with a long rear wing.

Exterior

The main front elevation is two storeys high and symmetrically arranged across nine bays in a 2:5:2 pattern. A central block is flanked by advanced wings, with the central entrance bay projecting forward beneath a pediment. The ground floor is marked by an ashlar plinth, quoins, and a plat band. At the top runs a modillioned timber cornice.

The entrance has a bolection-moulded architrave and a small-paned overlight above a small-paned half-glazed door. Above the door sits a niche with a shell vault and pediment containing an armorial bearing with mantling. The flanking windows feature rubbed brick flat arches with keystones, and 9-pane-by-9-pane sashes with thick glazing bars in flush wood frames. The first floor is lit by four oeil-de-boeuf windows. Each wing contains two sashes per floor: 9-pane-by-9-pane sashes to the ground floor and 6-pane-by-6-pane sashes to the first floor.

The right return has a window to the left of a lateral stack bearing an armorial plaque, with three windows to its right. An early 20th-century two-storey bay window projects here with a flat roof and paired sashes: 18-pane sashes to the ground floor and 12-pane sashes to the first floor, with horned frames to the bay.

The left return, including much of the long wing attributed to Lutyens, features two single-storey porches with pavilion roofs and four-fielded-panel doors. Windows here mostly have 12-pane horned sashes, with two taller windows at the left end having 6-pane-by-9-pane sashes. A hipped dormer contains 2-light leaded glazing. Two cross-axial stacks rise here. At the right end, a lateral stack with some dressed stone sits beneath a bell under a lean-to canopy. A two-storey hipped bay has 8-pane, 12-pane, and 8-pane horned sashes. The wing's end features a tripartite sash and a hipped dormer; this end originally joined a medieval rear wing that Lutyens rebuilt but which was demolished around 1946 and 1960.

The rear elevation, mostly by Lutyens, features a loggia between the short and long wings, with its left side matching the front. A worn sundial occupies the loggia. It is supported by a Doric column carrying a timber bressumer, with two windows flanking a ceramic plaque: 18-pane horned sashes to the ground floor and 12-pane horned sashes to the first floor. A lean-to projection to the left and a stair turret to the right form the base of a short plain tower, with 9-pane sashes. Lateral and ridge stacks rise to the front. The long wing contains an entrance with an original battened and studded door in a pegged frame, topped by an armorial plaque. Windows mostly have 12-pane horned sashes, with two 6-pane-by-9-pane sashes at the right end. Two hipped dormers light the long wing.

Interior

The full-height hall displays early 18th-century bolection-moulded panelling with a dado rail, narrow upper panels, and an entablature. The fireplace is a 20th-century Tudor-arched design in ashlar, flanked by Doric pilasters with triglyphs and an enriched cornice. The overmantel has an eared and shouldered architrave. The room features architraves to two-panel doors, one enriched with a frieze and cornice. The upper level has oeil-de-boeuf windows lighting a rear corridor and end openings with twisted balustrades; radiator screens also display twisted balusters. A closed-well stair with dado panelling serves the rear.

The drawing room to the right has fielded panelling with a dado and dentiled cornice. A late 18th-century marble fireplace with detached Ionic columns with yellow shafts and a Regency grate stands here. The room to the rear has fielded panelling with a dado and cornice, and a fireplace with Ionic pilasters and an overmantel incorporating 16th-century elements.

The dining room at the left end contains 17th-century panelling with moulding to three sides and top frieze panels. An early 20th-century plaster ceiling features a moulded border. The fireplace has a Tudor arch and linenfold overmantel, probably of 20th-century date. An eight-panel door with a spool latch is present.

A first-floor room at the right end has a 17th-century fireplace with rich carving of herms, winged beasts, and birds flanking an armorial bearing. Late 19th-century tiles and a fireback dated 1697 are fitted to this fireplace. The rear room has a Regency fireplace and grate. The ground floor contains an original early 20th-century panelled lavatory with a basin set in a marble and brick surround. The first floor includes an early 20th-century panelled bathroom. The long wing retains a large stone fireplace to the former kitchen and several doors with moulded muntins.

Despite extensive restoration, the house retains many original features from around 1700 and notable work by Lutyens.