Manor Farmhouse

Manor Farmhouse, originally the manor house, was built in the mid-16th century, with additions and alterations in the 17th century, and renovations in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was likely constructed by Henry Pigott (d.1588), possibly as an extension to an earlier building. The house is timber-framed and plastered, with red brick and some reused early medieval limestone at the plinth. It has red brick chimney stacks and plain tiled gabled roofs.

The building forms an L-shaped plan with a main range and a rear service wing. A central passage through the main range continues as a screen passage to a rear hall, which shares a similar first-floor plan, possibly originally functioning as a long gallery. 17th-century kitchens have been demolished, but an exposed hearth and baking oven remain visible on the north-west elevation. The rear hall was later divided into a dairy and pantry.

The south-east elevation features a four-gabled roof, the right-hand gable being the largest. Each gable has folded leaf ornaments to the barge boards, turned drop finials, and one to the centre of each jettied roof bay, with a carved head finial on the right-hand bay. The first-floor jetty is plastered. A wide doorway with carved leaf spandrels and a four-centred arch leads to a studded boarded oak door. Windows include one early 20th-century three-light casement, one large twelve-paned flush-framed sash window, three smaller first-floor windows, and one attic window. The tiled roof has offsets for a guarderobe and a large side chimney stack with a paired diagonal shaft, with small lights to the guarderobe. Two late-17th-century cross-framed leaded light casement windows are found on the north-east elevation.

Inside, the house features double ogee chamfered cross beams, main ceiling beams, and cornices with leaf stops and run-out stops. A substantial close-studded timber frame is present. A window with ogee-and hollow-chamfer molded mullions has been blocked in the north-west elevation. Clunch door jambs are visible to the guarderobes. Chimneys have been recently blocked in the south-west rooms. There are three doors: two with oak planks and ribs, and one with nine panels and a moulded frame. A staircase leads to the roof, including some original solid wooden steps. Side purlin roofs with curved wind braces were formerly in each bay. The roof of the south-east gable has been racked and rebuilt. A 19th-century staircase is in the main range, and replacement doors are also present.

The manor house became a farmhouse after 1680 when Granado Pigott moved to Bassingbourn, likely prompting alterations to the rear wing. A window with the family coat of arms was removed to the chancel of Bassingbourn Church. The house sits within a moated site.