The Moat House

The Moat House is a house that was formerly the rectory, dating from the late 16th century or 17th century, and was remodeled and extended around 1847. It is constructed of gault brick in Flemish bond, with a plastered timber frame at the rear. The house features a gable-ended roof, with a slated front range and a more steeply pitched tiled roof over the back range, along with brick axial stacks.

The building has a double depth plan. The original house, which is the long back range with an axial stack, was converted to service rooms when the front range was added in around 1847. This addition includes a central stair hall with principal rooms on either side, and there are later outshuts at the rear.

The Moat House is two storeys tall with a symmetrical three-window east front. The first floor has three sixteen-pane sash windows, while the ground floor features twenty-pane French casements and a central doorway, all with moulded cast-iron lintels on console brackets. The doorway includes a rectangular overlight with glazing bars and a panelled and glazed door. Similar cast-iron lintels are present over the sashes in the end walls. The back range has two storeys and an attic, with a central gabled dormer and two single-storey outshuts.

Inside, many mid-19th century features remain, including joinery and marble chimneypieces, with those on the first floor complete with cast-iron grates. There is a good open-well staircase with stick balusters and a moulded mahogany handrail leading up to column newels. The ceiling of the entrance hall by the staircase is supported on a cast-iron column. In the back range, the central room has an exposed chamfered cross-beam supported by a large jowled post, and on the first floor, some wall-posts, wall-plates, and tie-beams are exposed.

A drawing for the remodeling of the house, dated 1847 and signed by David Smith-(Hunt?), is in the possession of the owner.