Anstey Hall

Anstey Hall is a manor house dating from the mid-17th century, with an earlier north range, an early 19th-century east garden front, and a west link added in the early 20th century with a later 20th-century portico. It is primarily timber framed and plastered, with an early 19th-century red brick casing on the south front, and steep hipped tiled roofs. Originally, the house comprised two parallel buildings approximately 5 metres apart. The north range has four bays and a jowled post side chimney, and cut-off brace details; it was extended eastwards in the early 19th century to align with the five-bay mid-17th-century south range. The south range has a symmetrical layout with two wide bays flanking a narrow chimney bay in the centre, and shorter end bays. The large central chimney has four tall octagonal shafts in-line across the centre of the roof. The south front is symmetrical, with corner pilasters, a plinth, a parapet which steps up in the middle, an upright oval first-floor window over a recessed sash window of 6/6 panes, and triple sash windows on both floors to each side. Ground floor windows have wide moulded surrounds. The west entrance front is more irregular with four Doric columns supporting a flat portico, approached by curving stairways at each end. Internally, exposed timbers are visible. The south wing has unjowled posts, face-halved bladed scarf joints in the wallplate, chamfered heavy cross-beams and axial beams. One east room on the ground floor features an ovolo moulded axial beam. The Hall replaced the castle as the caput of the manor and occupies the site of the manor’s original messuage.