Cranley Hall

Cranley Hall is a substantial farmhouse with a complex history, dating back to the mid-15th century. It began as a house in a gabled range oriented north-south, towards the east end of the present building. A similar gabled parallel range was added by the late 15th century. Around 1500, a long east-west range was incorporated, featuring a gabled cross wing at the west end. The building is constructed of a close-studded timber frame, partly plastered and colourwashed. The roofs are covered with plain tiles and pantiles.

The north front is a five-window range, incorporating the cross wing gable. The ground floor windows are mostly 20th-century casements, with some 3-light windows. The first floor has 19th-century 3-light metal casements. A prominent feature is an 8-light hollow-mullioned frieze window at the east end of the ground floor. A 20th-century door is positioned to the right of centre. The cross wing has a 19th-century French door flanked by 6-light hollow-moulded frieze windows beneath a middle rail. A slate-roofed verandah, supported by circular-section iron verticals with scrolled wrought-iron terminations, extends from the cross wing, returning along the west flank. The attic of the cross wing has a 6-light hollow-moulded mullioned window, and evidence of mortices for a former projecting window is visible under the minimal attic jetty. A rebuilt ridge stack sits above the main entrance door.

The west return of the cross wing features a 6-light hollow-moulded mullioned window. An internal gable-end stack is located on the south side. The two eastern cross wings represent the earliest phases of construction. These are two-storey structures with gabled roofs of varying heights and 2-light casements, mostly blocked. One eastern wing has a jettied first floor on the north side. The rear elevation includes a gabled staircase turret with a 3-light casement. There are several 19th- and 20th-century outshuts.

The interior of the east wing features a crown post roof, with the post resting on a polygonal moulded base and incorporating arched braces to collars and the crown purlin. The main entrance door of the principal wing leads to a passageway cut through a stack. A stick-baluster staircase with a ramped, wreathed handrail dates to the early 19th century. The west cross wing has a close-studded frame with jowled principal posts and a tie beam decorated with an early 17th-century carved arcade. The roof is a clasped purlin roof with curved wind braces. The main range has a close-studded timber frame rising to jowled principal posts and tie beams on arched braces. Early 17th-century small-framed partition walls are present at the first floor. The north-west room contains a bolection-moulded fireplace, and an early 19th-century stick-baluster turret staircase ascends within. The main roof has 17th-century butt purlins and collars.