Thorley Hall

Thorley Hall is a house of late 13th and early 14th century origin, beginning as a timber-framed aisled hall-house of the Gerbergh family, now forming the west wing. A substantial two-storey, three-bay south wing was built between 1390 and 1414. The central chimney and inserted floor within the hall date to the early 17th century. An estate plan of 1672–3 shows a north cross-wing with kitchen beyond, probably demolished around 1714 when the south wing was also internally altered and extended westward to double its length, with the main entrance relocated to the south front. A two-storey rear extension is recorded in Buckler's drawings of 1834. In the mid 19th century, the south front and north and east walls of the east extension were faced in red brick with regular windows, disregarding the higher floor level in the eastern parts of the south wing. The north end of the west hall wing was altered to a lean-to roof.

The building has steep old red tile roofs. The west wing is plastered with panelled pargetting and features a jettied upper floor of the gable of the cross wing on four heavy curved brackets. A 18th-century flush box sash window with 6/6 panes appears on each floor. A 19th-century triple sash window and a four-panel flush beaded door under a flat hood serve the hall. A large 17th-century red brick central chimney stands at the junction of the wings with square shafts set diagonally.

The south front comprises two storeys and seven windows in 19th-century red brick with plinth and segmental arches to openings. A modillioned cornice, shown in Buckler's pre-facing drawings, pre-dates the brick facing. The steep tiled roof is hipped at the east end. Recessed sash windows, narrower on the first floor with 3/3 panes and 4/4 panes below, punctuate the elevation. The door beneath a wide segmental arch retains early 18th-century Corinthian channelled pilasters with moulded caps and bases raised on sunk panelled dies but no entablature. A six-panel raised and fielded moulded door with matching two-panel moulded overdoor and four-panel reveals is supported by two moulded stone steps. Brickwork corbelled out at the jetty at the southwest corner.

The structure of the aisled hall is exposed in the room over the old kitchen. The decorated central frame of the two-bay aisled hall dates to around 1300 and is of outstanding interest. It features octagonal arcade posts, moulded capitals, a cambered tie beam to the nave, and mortices for secret notched dovetail lapped joints for straight braces on each face over the aisles and one on the west face from post to tie beam. About a century later, the hall was reconstructed with narrow aisles and converted to a single span by cutting away the posts below the capitals and inserting a tie beam supported by heavy curved braces from the outer walls. The crown post roof subsequently erected over the hall is probably later than that over the three-bay south wing with its cruciform crown posts and tenonned collars, but employs the same hollow chamfered cornice and may be nearly contemporary. In the hall, the longitudinal arcade plates survive with heavy square section, face pegged braces in both bays, though the inserted tie beam was later cut away in the middle when a first floor was inserted. The fine three-bay crown post roof of the south wing survives complete in the roof space, with a ceiling inserted well below the tie beams. A parlour on the ground floor of this wing is lined with early 17th-century scratch moulded oak panelling with carved interlace top panels. A heavy cross beam with slots for now-removed braces remains. A large brick fireplace occupies the old kitchen, and a former solar fireplace with wide three-centred plastered arch survives in a first-floor cupboard in the passage.

The interior was refitted in the early 18th century with fine panelled rooms on each floor of the south wing. Two-panel doors with face-fixed H hinges, moulded cornices, and in some rooms ovolo-moulded panelling, dado rail, brass case locks, panelled window shutters and moulded door architraves characterize the scheme. A fine small panelled entrance hall features a moulded cornice breaking forward over keystones of twin arched openings on the north wall, one leading to a contemporary dogleg stair with spiral balusters. A small panelled study east of the entrance has bolection moulded panel over a simple fire surround with moulded shelf.

The building is of outstanding importance to the development of domestic architecture and timber-framing techniques.