Dodford Priory

Dodford Priory is a house with origins dating back to the 12th century, substantially altered and extended in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and further modified in the mid-19th century and late 20th century. The building began as an Augustinian priory, founded around 1184 and later passed to Halesowen Abbey in 1464. In 1538, it was granted to the Dudley family and subsequently to the Wylde family. It was later rebuilt as a farmhouse and is now a private house.

The house is constructed from part coursed dressed sandstone rubble, part brick, and part timber-framing with painted and rendered brick infill, featuring plain tiled roofs. The building is arranged in an L-shape, with the main block being four bays wide and aligned east/west. It has a large external sandstone chimney with three diagonal brick stacks to the south elevation, a large internal chimney to the south of the centre with two diagonal brick stacks projecting from the south roof pitch, and a large 19th-century stack at the west end. An adjoining two-bay timber-framed wing extends from the east end, featuring a large central chimney with two star-shaped ridge stacks. The house has two storeys, an attic, and a cellar.

The north-east wing has three rows of panels at first floor level, with some close-set studding towards the south end, along with long straight braces in the lower corners. It features collar and tie-beam trusses with struts and V-struts in each apex. The main block exhibits similar trusses at the gable ends, close-set struts at the west end, and two collars at the east end.

The main north elevation has 19th-century casement windows, mostly of three lights with transoms, with three ground floor windows (one with a cambered head) and four first floor windows. The main entrance, to the right of the centre, has a 20th-century gabled glazed timber porch and a narrow 17th-century door. Attic lights are located in the gable ends. The north-east wing has a cellar door with a cambered head, a three-light ground floor casement, a blocked first-floor window, and a pair of attic lights in its north gable end. Additional blocked first-floor windows and a half-glazed 20th-century door are found in the angle where the wing meets the main part of the house.

The interior retains heavy beamed ceilings and large fireplaces. The north-east wing contains an open-well staircase with spiral balusters and a moulded handrail. First-floor walls reveal fragments of original wall paintings, largely hidden beneath limewash. A chamfered pointed doorway, surviving from the original priory, is located on the south-west side of the building.

Dodford Priory stands on a former moated site.