The Hall

THE HALL

Manor house, originally built in the 15th century with later additions to the rear and to the north. It was remodelled in the late 18th century, which determines its current external appearance. The building is constructed of timber-framing and clunch, with tiled roofs throughout.

The main structure consists of a hall and cross-wing with a later 18th-century north range. The original open-hall of the 15th century was floored in the 16th or 17th century. It is timber-framed with a two-bay plan and a service bay to the south. The walls are rendered and the roof, hipped to the south, is plain tiled with an 18th-century stack inserted at the low end of the hall. Two storeys are present. One original tripartite hung sash window survives at first floor level and one original Venetian window at ground floor. The service bay to the south, now the kitchen, is also timber-framed and rendered with a plain tiled roof but has a lower ridge line.

The east-west cross-wing, which originally comprised at least four bays, now forms the entrance hall and a rear room. Its walls are clunch except for timber-framing to part of the first floor of one side wall. The plain tiled roof is hipped at both ends with a ridge stack. Two storeys are present. The gable end projects at the front and displays two flush frame hung sashes of twelve panes each, with heads flush with the eaves. A good central doorway is flanked by hung sashes of twelve panes each. The doorway and windows are divided by panelled pilaster strips on plinths but share a common frieze and moulded cornice carried up over the pediment and a dummy fanlight with radial glazing bars. The door itself has six raised and fielded panels.

The north wing, dating to the 18th century, is timber-framed and rendered with a plain tiled roof and two storeys. The first floor contains a tripartite hung sash similar to that in the former open-hall above a Venetian window, also original and similar to that of the open-hall. A two-storey canted bay with hung sashes projects from the gable end of this wing. At the rear is a two-storey parlour wing with pargetted walls and a plain tiled roof.

Interior features of the medieval house remain visible. In the former open-hall, the tie beam has been cut down but its ends are visible and retain broach stops. Evidence exists for a partition wall between the service end and the cross-passage. The roof has been rebuilt but incorporates some sooted rafters from the original. The cross-wing contains an inserted early 16th-century hearth and floor frame within what was originally a two-bay parlour wing open to the roof. The floor frame has hollow and wall mouldings to the main beams. The roof over this section is particularly fine, although a stack has been inserted and the end bays truncated. Now of three bays and part of a fourth, it is of crown post construction, with the crown post of the display truss and one other surviving. One post is octagonal with moulded capital and plate bracing to the collar purlin and collar, though its base has been cut down. The other post is octagonal but lacks a moulded capital and has bracing to the collar purlin only. The roof is smoke blackened above the level of the collars.

The building was formerly listed as The Old Hall on 8 April 1975.