Shell Manor

This is a mid-15th century farmhouse, significantly altered around 1600, with late 17th and 18th century additions, and restored in 1961-2. The building is timber-framed with painted brick and rendered infill, set on a lias limestone rubble plinth, and has plain tiled roofs. It is arranged in an H-shape, with a two-bay north-west/south-east aligned central hall, a cross-passage, and a porch wing. A north-west solar wing of three bays remains from the medieval period and has an external sandstone chimney. Originally, this chimney was topped with two diagonal brick shafts featuring oversailing cap courses interwoven with tiles. The hall and service wing were rebuilt around 1600; the hall with a rear stack, and the service wing with a side external lias limestone rubble chimney that features three star-shaped shafts, serving two fireplaces. Later in the 17th century, the service wing was extended by two bays, and an 18th century brick stable block was built at the rear gable end. The building is two storeys and attics. The timber framing is close-set, with short straight braces in the upper corners. The porch wing is jettied with consoles supporting the upper level. The roofs have collar and tie-beam trusses. The solar wing has close-set studding above and below the collar, and the service wing has decorative herringbone and lattice panels. The south-west front has 20th century windows, mainly ovolo-moulded mullioned and transomed. The hall has a four-light window on both the ground and first floors. The porch entrance has a moulded architrave and a 17th-century door. The solar gable end has a three-light window on both floors; the ground floor window has side lights. The service gable end features a four-light window on both floors, as well as an attic light. Continuous plank weatherings are present at first floor and attic levels. The interior of the solar wing has particularly notable features, including a roof with a massive open cambered tie-beam truss, slender arch-braced trusses, and wind-braces which meet in pointed arches above the purlins. The ground floor is divided into a former parlour and ante-chamber by a partition with a four-centred arched doorway. In the hall, a former stair led to the first floor of the solar, indicated by a four-centred arched lintel above the doorway. Stone fireplaces are chamfered and have massive stone lintels; the solar chimney has the flue of the lower fireplace rising outside that of the upper fireplace, demonstrating an unusual design detail.