Manor Farmhouse

Manor Farmhouse, Wootton Wawen

A farmhouse, now converted to a house and two flats. The building dates from the 16th century with substantial rebuilding in the early 18th century and further alterations and additions in the 1980s. It is constructed of timber-framing with plaster infill on the left side, and reddish-brown brick (mainly whitewashed) on the right, with a plain-tile roof.

The building follows a traditional plan with a central hall flanked by cross-wings at either end. The north wing is predominantly timber-framed, while the central block and south wing are brick construction.

The exterior is two storeys with attic rooms within the gables of the wings. The facade has four first-floor windows arranged in a 1:2:1 pattern. The north wing displays close-studded timber-framing at ground floor level surmounted by small-square timber-framing with angle braces.

The main entrance to the central range features a four-panel door with an overlight glazed with glazing bars. The doorcase is wooden with a coved hood carved with palm leaves and a basket of fruit and flowers, supported on carved console brackets. A fire insurance mark is positioned above the door. The entrance is flanked by multi-pane casement windows with wooden mullions and transoms, set under flat brick arches with raised keystones. The north range has a multi-pane casement window to its ground floor. The first floor of the centre and south wing is marked by a continuous band, with the north wing containing a casement window with lead cames. The central range has two multi-pane casements with wooden mullions and transoms beneath flat brick arches with raised keystones. The south wing has a 20th-century casement window. Upper-floor casements include a window with lead cames to the gable of the north wing and a 20th-century casement to the south wing gable under a flat brick arch. The centre range is finished with a dentil eaves cornice.

The roof is gabled, with a cluster of three internal stacks at the junction of the north wing and central range, two of which are diagonal (the third has been renewed), plus a further internal stack to the right. The right return features 20th-century French windows at ground floor, with a 20th-century casement window alongside. The first floor of this elevation has a tripartite casement window with wooden mullions and transoms (with remains of a flat brick arch and sill) and a further casement beneath a flat brick arch with raised keystone. A dentil eaves cornice runs along this section.

The interior of the central range contains a winder staircase with one flight of barley-twist-on-vase balusters and a partition wall of small timber-framing alongside. Six-panel doors are used throughout. The ground-floor room in the south wing features moulded panelling, four-panel cupboards flanking the stack with radial glazing to their heads, a 17th-century marble chimneypiece, a beamed ceiling and cornice. The first-floor room of the south wing has moulded panelling and wainscoting, a two-panel cupboard door and a bolection-moulded fireplace, along with six-panel doors. The attic in the south wing displays extensive timber-framing, chamfered beams and wall plates. The north wing was not inspected during the survey.

According to the Wootton Wawen Report, the north wing is considered to be a survival from a single- or double-ended hall building, with the present central and south elements representing a later rebuilding. The decorative hood above the entrance may have been brought from elsewhere in the early 19th century. The early 18th-century rebuilding was likely undertaken as part of a general programme by King's College, Cambridge, to which the area had been endowed by Henry VI in 1414.

The farmhouse forms part of a good range of agricultural buildings including the Barn Range, Cart shed with Stable and Hayloft, and Stables (all separately listed).