Tuthill Manor

Tuthill Manor is a house dating from the late 15th century, with significant extensions in the mid 16th century, and further alterations and improvements in the mid to late 17th century. It was restored and largely rebuilt around 1970. The house is timber-framed with rendered brick infill, a brick base, and a thatched roof, which is half-hipped over the main range. Originally a two-story beacon tower, it was extended in the 16th century with an open hall and parlour wing, with a stack inserted. In the 17th century, the hall was floored and cross wings were added to the front and rear of the original tower, creating a “T” shaped plan.

The house is two stories and has attics. A two-story projecting gabled porch is located at the left end of the hall range and contains a plank and muntin door. The first floor of the porch is jettied, with a moulded bressumer and later brick buttresses. Exposed close studding and curved tension braces are visible, along with jowled posts supporting a clasped purlin roof. A window on the right return of the porch has an early ovolo-moulded mullioned frame with small diagonal mullions. To the right of the porch is a bay with tension braces (originally internal, now external), close studding, early window frames, a ground floor window with two hollow-moulded lights, and a first-floor window with three lights and diagonally set mullions. A 20th-century bay window with a thatched head sits on the ground floor, with a 20th-century two-light casement above. A large 17th-century red brick axial ridge stack, with first-floor open framing, is situated further right. The parlour bay exhibits close studding, tension braces, a ground-floor window with an ovolo-moulded frame and three lights with iron mullions, and a 20th-century gabled dormer. The right-hand bay of the hall has a 20th century window and attic window with an ovolo-moulded mullioned frame with four lights. A cross wing projects forward to the left, with similar framing as the main structure and an early ovolo-moulded mullioned two-light window with diagonal mullions. A gable end stack is constructed of 18th-century red brick, offset from the main wall. The left return of the cross wing has early windows on the ground floor (four lights) and first floor (three lights) with diagonally set mullions. The late 15th-century bay exhibits larger timber scantling to the jowled posts. An external red brick stack and lean-to projections are present towards the rear of the cross wing. The hall range to the rear has tension braces, close studding, an early first-floor window, dormers, and catslide roofs over lean-to outshuts.

The interior features entirely exposed framing, including stop-chamfered bearers and joists. There are some reused 17th-century turned balusters on the staircase, arched braces to cambered tie beams, and a clasped purlin roof with curved windbraces.