Great Bardfield Hall

Great Bardfield Hall is a house dating from the 16th century, with alterations made in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is timber framed, plastered, and has a roof made of handmade red clay tiles. The building has an approximate H-plan layout facing south, which includes a 3-bay crosswing at the left that extends only to the rear, a 2-bay main range that and the crosswing both jet out to the front, an unjettied 2-bay extension to the main range, and a 4-bay crosswing that extends to both the front and rear. There is an 18th-century external stack at the left end, a 16th-century internal stack at the junction of the main range and the right crosswing, and an 18th-century stack at the rear end of the right crosswing, which has a single-storey 18th-century extension beyond it. There is also a 17th or 18th-century lean-to extension behind the main range that encloses a stair. The house has two storeys and attics.

Under the jetty at the left, there is one plain bracket and two late 19th-century splayed bays with sash windows featuring 2-4-2 lights. There is also one early 19th-century sash window with 20 lights and one 20th-century casement window. On the first floor, there are four early 19th-century sashes with 20 lights and one early 20th-century oriel window, along with three 19th-century casements in gabled dormers. The roof of the right crosswing is hipped at the front.

Inside, the building features jowled posts, some exposed close studding, and chamfered axial and transverse beams with lamb's tongue stops. There are exposed plain joists of horizontal section in the rear bay of the right crosswing, and mortises for removed diamond mullions can be found on the left side of the right crosswing. The crosswing has a clasped purlin roof with arched wind bracing, while the right section of the main range has a clasped purlin roof without wind bracing. The owner reports high ground-floor windows with ovolo mullions on each side of the splayed bays, which are now covered by lath and plaster both externally and internally.

This manor house is located near the church and shows an unusual and complex development, all apparently within the 16th century. It was replaced as the seat of the manor by Great Lodge in 1621 but may have regained its status as the manor when Great Lodge was demolished around 1729.