Home Farm House

A former manor house, now a farmhouse, dating from around 1500 with significant later alterations and additions. The building comprises a timber-framed solar wing from around 1500, a central hall refaced and altered in the late 16th or early 17th century, further alterations and additions from the 18th century, and 20th-century accretions. The solar is timber-framed with red brick facing; the remainder is constructed in red brick with tiled roofs.

The original plan consists of a hall with through passage and a solar cross-wing, now largely obscured by later additions. The hall is aligned north-west to south-east and faces north-east. The solar cross-wing extends to the north-west, with further additions to the south, north-west and south-west. A slightly projecting stair turret now blocks the through passage to the south-west. The main external stack stands at the back of the hall to the south-west, its base now partly enclosed by a 20th-century lean-to. A further external stack extends to the north-west return of the solar wing, also partly enclosed. A central stack serves the lower end of the house.

The north-east front (garden elevation) displays two storeys and an attic with dentilled eaves cornice. The brickwork is irregular, combining earlier English bond with patterning and additions in both English and Flemish bonds. The fenestration dates to the early 19th century, with three windows to the hall and glazing bar sash windows. The solar wing features three-light brick mullioned windows in the gable and two glazing bar sashes below. A mid-19th-century extension to the solar has one glazing bar sash window and a six-panelled door. The central doorway to the hall is topped with a canopy supported on console brackets and contains a partly glazed door.

The rear (entrance) elevation is more complex. A later dairy wing partly obscures the solar gable end to the left. The main external stack with three partly rebuilt conjoined star-plan shafts stands to the left of the entrance. A gabled stair turret and a further projecting later wing occupy the right side. Fenestration is irregular, comprising two- and three-light wooden casements and a two-light casement to the stair turret. The right wing has a three-light casement with cambered lintels. A glazed door provides access to the 20th-century lean-to.

The interior preserves an almost complete timber-framed solar from around 1500, consisting of three bays. The upper chamber was originally open but has been ceiled at purlin level. The bays are further subdivided by intermediate trusses, though the north-east bay has been shortened by a later brick gable wall (though its intermediate truss survives). The remaining two bays are complete. Large swept braces extend to the south-east lateral wall. The main trusses are knee-braced with continuous moulding applied to posts, braces and tie-beam. The arch-braced intermediate trusses form shallow pointed arches and provide footings for two pairs of wind braces to each bay. The wall-plate is heavily moulded. A shallow ogee-headed doorway in the south-west gable, formerly an external truss, indicates the position of a former external stair. A cusped four-light window to the north-west lateral wall, now blocked, is partly visible from the exterior. The central brick fireplace has been altered but retains a timber lintel and a stone inset above featuring an ogee cusped lancet and lattice design carved in relief.

The interior of the 17th-century hall contains a cross-beamed ceiling and an altered fireplace. Rooms at the lower end of the house, altered during the 18th century, have higher ceilings. The room above the hall features a fine early 18th-century fireplace. Heavy six-panelled oak internal doors are found throughout. A late 18th-century oak-framed newel staircase with turned balusters has been installed. The roof trusses of the hall range date to the late 17th or early 18th century and incorporate inclined struts; the trusses to the lower end have been altered.

The house stands on a moated site. The moat forms a semi-circle extending from west to east approximately 20 metres from the garden elevation. The property was formerly one of the manors of Great Witley.