Manor Farmhouse is a Grade II* listed building in the Bedford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 17 May 1984. A Renaissance House. 1 related planning application.

Manor Farmhouse

WRENN ID
small-gable-cedar
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Bedford
Constituency
North Bedfordshire MP: Richard Fuller (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
17 May 1984
Type
House
Period
Renaissance
Address
Manor Farmhouse, High Road, Cotton End, MK45 3AA
OS grid reference
TL 084 455
Coordinates
52.09799, -0.41784
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Manor Farmhouse is a house dating from the late 16th century. It is built of red brick with stone dressings and has an old clay tile roof. The original design was H-plan, but the south cross-wing has since been destroyed. The house has two storeys and attics, featuring stone banding at the first floor level and at the eaves of the cross-wing. The main block has a coved cornice.

The cross-wing includes two 2-light mullion and transom windows on both the ground and first floors, a 2-light mullioned window in the attic, and stone coping with a finial. The main block has a gabled central porch with stone coping and a finial, along with two 3-light mullion and transom windows on the ground and first floors. The rear of the house has similar window designs. There are substantial external chimney stacks on the north and rear elevations, with the north stack featuring four octagonal shafts and the rear stack having three, all topped with octagonal pots.

At the rear, there is a single-storey outhouse addition made of red brick and clay tile. Inside, the first floor of the main block was originally one room and has an elaborate plaster ceiling, which has been altered by some 20th-century partitioning. This ceiling likely dates from the early 17th century and features five quatrefoil panels in the middle, with the central panel displaying a coat of arms possibly belonging to Thomas Colby of London, who purchased the manor in 1566, or his descendants. Other main panels depict scriptural subjects, including The Fall, while the bordering panels contain a variety of devices, such as portraits, foliage, animals, birds, and grotesques. The cornice includes a frieze of putti and grapevine.

Local climate

Manor Farmhouse sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 96% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 89% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 1 application
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Dovecote at Manor Farmhouse Grade II 76 m
  2. 21, High Road Grade II 164 m
  3. 8 and 10, Bell Lane Grade II 230 m
  4. The Bell Public House Grade II 240 m
  5. Herring's Green Farmhouse Grade II 1.1 km
  6. Cardington Number 2 Shed at Raf Cardington Grade II* 1.2 km
  7. Cardington Number 1 Shed at Raf Cardington Grade II* 1.3 km
  8. Bromford Grade II 1.5 km
  9. Cotton End Farmhouse Grade II 1.5 km
  10. Cardington Railway Station Grade II 1.8 km