Stayer House

Stayer House is a house with a complex history, dating back to the medieval period with significant alterations and additions through the 16th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The original core is a medieval hall house located at the front, extended in the late 16th century into a surviving timber-framed range that runs north-south at the rear. A block was added around 1650 at the southeast angle. In the mid-18th century, the hall house was replaced with a brick front range, which was later refronted around 1820. An early 19th-century banking hall was built against the east return.

The front facade is whitewashed brick in a Flemish bond, while the rear retains timber framing. The front has a red and black-glazed pantiled roof, with plain tiles covering the rear wing. The front facade is of two storeys and five windows. The central entrance has a six-panelled door with a Y-traceried fanlight, sheltered by a projecting porch with two pairs of Ionic columns supporting a plain entablature. There are two six-over-six unhorned sash windows on either side of the door. The first floor has five three-over-six unhorned sashes, the central window with an arched head. A double modillion eaves cornice sits below a plain parapet that partially hides the twin hipped roofs. Two stacks are located in the center valley. The early 19th-century banking hall is topped with a hipped slate roof and features a tall, three-light casement with glazing bars to the north and a doorway on the east return.

The rear wing has a two-story, seven-window west side with exposed timber studwork. The windows are predominantly two-light and three-light leaded casements, most incorporating hood moulds. Two eastern framing bays have been converted into an external loggia. The gabled roof has an internal gable-end stack to the north. The south gable wall is brick, with a single-story lean-to attached. The east face of this wing has a brick ground floor.

Inside, an arched exterior door remains between the rear wing and the front block, evidence of the original hall house. The north room of the front block features a bolection-moulded fireplace and six-panelled doors. The rear room has a marble fireplace with Ionic columns, re-sited in the mid-20th century. A closed-string early 19th-century staircase has stick balusters and a ramped handrail. The east room on the rear first floor had a domed ceiling which was subsequently plastered over in the late 20th century. Within the 17th-century block forming the angle between the two main ranges is a sunk-quadrant moulded bridging beam. The former banking hall was converted into a kitchen during World War II. The ground floor of the rear wing has been opened into one large room and exhibits timber framing with chamfered principal posts, splayed tops, and chamfered bridging beams. A wide fireplace with a plain bressumer is also present, along with a clasped purlin roof.