The Old Manor House

The Old Manor House, dating to approximately 1558, has a substantial late 19th-century addition to the north, although it has been much modernised since then. The original, western portion is H-shaped, with slightly projecting gabled cross-wings facing west. While the fabric of the west front is hidden by painted pebble-dash render, the south side displays 17th-century brickwork. The building has a steeply pitched plain tile roof with gabled ends and bargeboards with finials to all gables. The west front has one and a half storeys and a four-window range with three gabled bays. All windows have been restored and are of 19th-century date. The ground floor features three splayed oriel bay windows with mullion/transom casements, and one 4-light mullion/transom window to the left of the porch. Steps lead to a gabled wooden porch, and the six-panelled front door has moulded framing and carved lozenge ornament. The first floor has one 8-light mullion/transom window and one gabled dormer with four-light mullion/transom casements. There are three brick chimney stacks; two at the ridge and one projecting from the south elevation. Inside the original portion, the entrance hall has early 17th-century panelling. The staircase behind the entrance hall is partially of 17th-century date, featuring turned balusters. Ground floor rooms contain 17th-century ceiling beams. The splayed bay window on the west elevation, to the room south of the entrance hall, contains some old glass, including the Savage Arms dated 1577. The bay windows on the west and south elevations, and one around the corner on the south elevation, have been restored and retain carved 16th-century external friezes above the lights. A large, late 16th-century oak chimney piece from Kenilworth Castle, richly carved with a three-bay overmantle, is in the library on the first floor of the southern cross-wing. Barrel vaulted plaster ceilings are found in the library and a bedroom on the first floor of the southern cross-wing. The late 19th-century addition to the north is of two storeys and an attic, with a gabled cross-wing and gable facing north. It has mullion/transom casements similar to those on the older section, two brick ridge chimney stacks and a brick water tower on the west side, set in the angle between the cross-wing and the northern gable. The building was part of the estates belonging to the Savage Landor family, and the poet and writer Walter Savage Landor spent much of his time there.