The Manor House

The Manor House is a house built around 1710-1720, with a mid-18th century parlour wing added at the rear. It features red and burnt brick on a plinth, except for the rear wall, which is timber framed. The roof is parapetted and tiled, with end stacks and a moulded brick eaves cornice. The original house has a single range plan, with service areas and offices at the north end, and principal rooms on either side of a narrower hall and stair bay. The building has a cellar, two principal storeys, and an attic, with three hipped dormers.

The façade is symmetrical with five windows framed by pilasters, red brick quoins, and moulded brick capitals and bases. The original glazing features ovolo moulded bars in twelve-pane hung sashes, with arched top panes in open boxing and segmental arches. A central doorway, accessed by four steps, has a door with eight raised and fielded panels and a later flat hood supported by scroll brackets. There is a lead rainwater downpipe from the 18th to 19th century on the front wall, and another, probably mid-18th century, with the initials W.H. on the right-hand gable end.

The mid-18th century parlour wing is also constructed of red brick and tiled, with two storeys and an attic, featuring sham framing on part of the rear wall. Inside, the hall is paved and includes a fine open-string staircase with four flights and two landings, featuring column on-vase balusters, a swept and moulded rail, and fluted square newels with a curtail. The mid-18th century parlour at the rear is lined with raised and fielded panelling in two heights, while the adjoining front room has similar panelling. The overmantel features a modillion cornice, and the fireplace, dating to around 1840, is made of white marble. It is suggested that the house was built for Richard Hitch upon his marriage to Mary Hawkes in 1704, or that it served as the bailiff's house constructed by the Hitch family after acquiring the Argentines and Trayles Manors.