Thornton Manor

Thornton Manor

A farmhouse dating from the mid-16th century with alterations and additions made around 1658, and 20th-century restorations. The building is constructed of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings. The roof is steeply pitched, with stone slate covering the front and left pitches and machine tile to the rear, together with a stone ridge and lateral stacks.

The house is E-shaped in plan, comprising two storeys arranged in a five-window range with gabled cross-wings. The left wing projects to the rear with an extension. A gabled porch wing stands to the right, with the original entrance replaced by one to the left. A large external stack rises at the re-entrant angle of the right wing.

To the left of centre is a mid-17th-century Tudor-headed entrance with chamfered reveals, fitted with a studded plank door featuring enriched strap hinges and a stone-slate pentice. Windows throughout are recessed-chamfered-mullioned with labelmoulds. The ground floor features two-light plus two-light windows to each wing and a three-light window to the centre (replacing an earlier entrance) and to the right of centre. The first floor has three-light windows, while the attic has three-light windows to the wings and a two-light window to the porch. Windows to the right of centre have altered labelmoulds, with no label to that above the entrance. The left wing includes a pair of small round-headed lights with chamfered arches to the first-floor right return.

The left return has a large external stack at the right end with offsets, renewed string course, cornice and small light. Ground-floor windows comprise three-light and four-light examples, with signs of a blocked window beside the stack. The first floor has two-light and four-light windows. Two gabled roof dormers contain two-light leaded casements. A possible blocked entrance lies between windows. An axial stack marks the junction between roofs. The extension features an entrance at its right end with a heavy frame to a six-panel door (two panes glazed), together with two two-light windows and a three-light window at ground level, and a three-light half-dormer above.

The right return has a two-light ovolo-mullioned stair window, with a three-light window to the right and a four-light window above.

The rear elevation displays a gable to the left with a three-light ground-floor window and signs of blocked windows at first-floor and attic levels. The eaves show signs of being raised. A large lateral stack stands to the left of a two-storey flat-roofed projection with a three-light 20th-century window at first-floor level and a large three-light window to the right with a two-light window above, both without labelmoulds. The return of the projecting wing has three-light windows flanking an inserted 20th-century window, a lateral stack with a lean-to projection to the front, and two-light and three-light windows to the right. The first floor has two-light windows at each end, that to the left probably being 20th-century. The end gable is of brick with inserted 20th-century windows with casements at each floor level.

The central room contains a moulded stop-chamfered spine beam with a similar cross-beam and stop-chamfered joists. An ashlar fireplace features a moulded Tudor arch in an architrave, with the date 1411 inscribed on the right jamb. The room in the left wing has a chamfered beam and stop-chamfered joists, with a stop-chamfered bressumer to an ashlar fireplace flanked by benches; this chimney-breast was inserted at a later date. The room in the right wing has a large stop-chamfered beam and an ashlar fireplace with a moulded four-centred arch, together with a four-panel door with HL-hinges. A dog-leg staircase to the rear contains probably re-used splat balusters with wavy contours.

The rear wing contains a former kitchen with a chamfered spine beam and cross-beam, and a large stone fireplace with a moulded bressumer and labelmould. The first floor is recorded as having a probably re-set ashlar fireplace; the main door is reputedly from Warwick Gaol. The house stands on or near the site of the deserted village of Thornton.