Fitzwalters

Fitzwalters is a house dating from the 18th century, with later additions. It is constructed of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern, with a roof of handmade red clay tiles. The house has a half-H shaped plan. The main part of the house faces southwest and includes two axial stacks (chimneys) and a single-storey extension to the left with a hipped roof. A wing to the rear right faces southeast, also with two axial stacks. Another wing is at the rear, with the right portion dating from the early 19th century and the left portion from the late 19th century; the brickwork is keyed in.

The southwest elevation has, on the ground floor, three 19th-century casement windows in original openings with flat arches of gauged brick, one inserted casement, and one sash window of 6 over 3 lights with a similar arch. The first floor has six 19th-century casement windows. A 20th-century half-glazed door is topped with a flat canopy supported by two stanchions, and a sun firemark is fixed to the wall above the canopy. The southeast elevation has a 20th-century bay with a French window on the ground floor, one sash window of 3 over 6 lights in an altered opening, one similar sash in an original opening with a gauged brick arch, and two original sashes with shallow segmental arches of gauged brick; each of these original sashes has a single hinged light. The first floor has three casement windows in original openings with flat arches, one large sash window of 2 over 2 lights inserted in 1989 with a course of vertical bricks above, and three original sashes of 6 over 6 lights, each with a single hinged light. A half-glazed 6-panel door is at the right end of the elevation. There is a straight joint between the five sashes at the right end and the remainder of the elevation. The roofs are fully hipped. The house occupies a moated site.

Historical records indicate that in 1768, P Morant reported an octagonal mansion house, built for John Morecroft to an Italian design, stood nearby—its site is located 100 metres southeast of the present house. John Cary’s Survey of the High Roads from London, dated 1790, shows the property in the occupation of Mr Wright.