The Old Castle

The Old Castle is a house, now divided into a house and flats, dating back to the early 16th century with significant alterations in the 17th and 19th centuries. It is constructed of timber framing with close studding and ornamental panelling, originally with brick infill, though partially underbuilt in brick. Later brick facings and additions were made in the 19th century. The roof is tiled, and there are brick stacks.

The building has a complex L-plan shape, with a wing extending to the rear. It is two storeys high, with a six-window front. The facade is composed of three shallow, equal wings, with the ground floor built out between them. Some timber framing is exposed on the first floor of the left section and on a gable. The central cross wing features diagonal buttresses. The entrance on the left has a six-panelled door with a rendered hood mould. There are 19th-century casement windows, some with rendered hood moulds; the central wing has a large, full-width casement on the ground floor, and a window on the right is set within a brick segmental arch. First-floor gabled half-dormers are set between the cross wings. A 16th-century ridge stack on the left has four square shafts with V-pilasters, while a 19th-century stack is on the right.

The left return side has a jettied first floor and three equal gables. The close studding is visible, with some ornamental panelling in the first-floor gables. The ground floor features painted sham framing, and a central 19th-century casement. On the first floor, a partially blocked old window has a 20th-century casement inserted on the left, an original three-light lead-latticed casement is in the centre, and a blocked old four-light window is on the right. The right return side features two large gables with ornamental brickwork and 19th-century casements. Altered doorways are present.

A rear wing on the left is largely of 19th-century brick, although some fragments of exposed framing remain. This wing has an irregular late 20th-century fenestration. Within it stands a former external brick stack with lias quoins and two 16th/early 17th-century square brick shafts with V-pilasters. The main range, mostly underbuilt, has four gables: a jettied section with jowled posts and a gable jettied on brackets, a narrow section with a minor gable, a wide range with jowled posts, and a large gable with a heavy tie beam, herringbone framing, and a blocked attic window. An end section has a minor central gable. A 20th-century plank door provides access. Internal inspection revealed exposed framing, moulded beams and joists, and a late 18th/19th-century Gothick staircase with a traceried balustrade and scroll string. Records show the existence of late 16th-century panelling with a contemporary frieze and scroll ornament, and a staircase with flat balusters. The building forms part of a group with the Church of St. Mary. It is built on the partially-moated site of the medieval Studley Castle.