Mansion Farmhouse

Mansion Farmhouse is a timber-framed house of late 16th-century origin, with a late 17th-century service addition to the north end, situated on the west side of Main Street in Coveney. The main range is rendered plaster on a brick plinth, while the south gable end was rebuilt in the 18th century in red brick. The roof is reed thatched, hipped to the south end with a limestone ridge stack and red brick above the ridge. The building follows a single-range five-bay plan with a lobby entry, rising to two storeys with the first floor jettied on the front.

The principal façade displays four first-floor 19th-century twelve-pane hung sashes and a small casement to a closet opposite the stack, now concealed by plaster. The jetty joists are concealed by a fascia with only one bracket visible at the north end. Two 19th-century sixteen-pane ground-floor hung sashes flank a twelve-pane hung sash on either side of the original doorway. The doorcase has a hollow moulded architrave with a four-centred arch in a square head, carved with foliate motifs to the spandrels. The door itself comprises three vertical planks with iron cover strips and frame, studded with iron and fitted with original fleur-de-lys strap hinges.

The south gable end features red brick of irregular bond, predominantly three stretchers and two headers, on a plinth. An original ground-floor blocked window opening with a stilted segmental arch indicates an early to mid-18th-century date, contemporary with the inserted staircase. The service wing at the north end is late 17th-century, timber-framed and plaster-rendered on the front, with a brick-painted rear wall and red brick English bond on the plinth to the end wall. The gable end above eaves was rebuilt in gault brick when the end stack was added. The roof is reed thatched with a parapet gable on moulded brick kneelers. The wing is one storey and attic, with two windows on the front.

To the south-west, a Strict Baptist chapel adjoins the farmhouse. Dating to the 19th century, it is constructed of gault brick now covered in asbestos, with two recessed hung sashes in the north wall and interior fittings removed. A chapel yard associated with the chapel is situated in front and towards the road, containing two coffin tombs and a head and footstone, all 19th-century.

The interior reveals substantial timber-framed construction with exposed principal trusses. These feature jowled heads similar to those at Manor Farmhouse, with cambered tie beams and shallow bracing, some of which have been cut. The first-floor ceilings are probably insertions. A middle rail in the wall frame lodges the ceiling joists of the ground-floor rooms. The building has always been of two storeys, constructed of substantial scantling.

The original plan comprises a central two-bay hall entered from the lobby entry, a single-bay parlour at the south end, and a further ground-floor room at the north end with moulded main beams and posts indicating family or guest use, despite its locational association with service functions. The north room features a leaf stop-chamfered main beam carried on prick posts in the north end wall and the partition wall between this room and the two-bay hall. The capitals of the posts are carved with groove and scallop mouldings to the soffit.

The hall features boxed intersecting main beams and original joists similar to those in the parlour. The main beam is carried on prick posts in the east and west walls with scallop carving and a roll moulding. A short tabled scarf joint appears in the middle rail of the east wall. Above the now-blocked inglenook is a carved pad supporting the axial main beam. An original doorway with a plank door fitted with fleur-de-lys iron strap hinges leads to the lobby entry.

The parlour contains an exposed inglenook hearth of limestone, with the rear and part of the side walls repaired, though the surround is original. A shallow ogee moulding on a high base with a jewel stop frames the opening. The hearth lintel is of wood, with the ogee moulding carried round from the jambs. The ceiling is exposed, featuring a leaf stop-chamfered main beam and similar but smaller moulding to the exposed ceiling joists, which are laid flat.

An early 18th-century staircase was inserted into the hall. The newels are square and fluted with a toad's back rail. The balusters alternate between two forms: one composed of two symmetrical columns, and the other of column-on-vase type with enriched detailing. At first floor, abutting fireplaces serve the chamber above the hall and the parlour. Constructed of similar limestone, both are now blocked. An original plank door with fleur-de-lys strap hinges leads to the closet above the lobby entry.

The main range roof is of side purlin type. The service wing has a replacement roof. A leaded light casement in the north gable end of the main range is now internal.

Historically, the manor was vested in the prior and convent of Ely, though the long tenure of the Lisle family and their successors, the Scrope family of Bolton in Yorkshire, suggests it was regarded differently from other manors held of the prior and convent. The annual rent of five shillings was not enforced from the tenant. The Mansion House is believed to be the successor of the medieval manor house. In 1563 the manor tenancy was sold to Symeon Steward and remained in that family until 1649, when it passed to Thomas Allen. In the 18th century the house was owned by Robert Drake of Cambridge.