Waxham Hall

Waxham Hall is a manorial hall, now a farmhouse, dating to approximately 1570, with an additional north-east block added around 1800. The building is constructed of flint with re-used ashlar dressings and some brick, and has a roof of plain tiles, with pantiles to the subsidiary ranges.

The main block is two storeys high with a dormer attic. A panelled door from the early 19th century is centrally placed within a timber case, supported by a pair of scrolled Corinthian consoles. To the left are two late 18th-century sash windows with glazing bars within ashlar quoined surrounds, topped with stepped ashlar keystones. To the right are two 19th-century three-light cross casements set within segmental brick arches. The first floor is lit by two similar cross casements, one an early 19th-century sash with glazing bars under a segmental brick arch, and the other a 20th-century replacement. A timber eaves cornice sits below the gabled roof, with two flat-topped dormers featuring casements. Three stacks rise above the rear wing. The south gable has a stepped, rebuilt external stack and one casement to each of the first two floors; the ground floor casement dates to the 20th century, the upper one to the 19th. The north gable has sashes to each of the first two floors, with glazing bars and ashlar or brick surrounds, with a blocked attic window.

To the north-east is a two-storey brick addition with sash windows containing glazing bars. The north gable was rebuilt in the late 20th century and features a gabled roof with a ridge stack. The original main block had stepped external stacks at the rear, now incorporated into newer work. To the south of the additional wing is a full-height outshut, and beyond that, a grotto incorporating re-used ecclesiastical masonry from the 13th and 14th centuries. A two-storey wing runs south-west from the main block, incorporating a 16th-century gatehouse.

The gatehouse, on the courtyard side, has an arched entrance within a square surround with a moulded hood on labels. The spandrels are carved with a six-vaned drop patera motif. The main arch is blocked with brick, and a 20th-century door has been built through. To the left, a blocked arched 16th-century pedestrian entrance also has a square hood on labels and carved spandrels. There is one 19th-century casement on each floor to the right and left, those on the ground floor having segmental heads. Remains of ashlar surrounds to the original fenestration survive, as does evidence of this on the south gable wall. The roof is gabled.

The rear elevation has the remains of an external entrance to the gatehouse, blocked with a 19th-century outshut, and features one fluted and reeded Ionic column supporting an entablature with diamond studs in the frieze. A second engaged column survives inside the outshut. A tall, stepped external stack rises through the outshut.

The interior has been substantially altered. At first floor level, a plaster ceiling remains over the upper staircase landing, extending through later partitions to one room on each side. A moulded coved cornice is present in places, retaining floral trail decoration. The ceiling features geometric and star patterns, with occasional floral bosses, fleur-de-lys, and short drop pendants. In the south room, the pendants are deeper and the plaster ribs curve down into them.