Manston Hall

Manston Hall is a house that was formerly a manor house, dating from the mid-16th century, with extensions made around 1600, in the 18th century, and early 20th century. It features a three-cell, cross-passage entrance plan, along with a later service cross-wing. The exterior showcases exposed timber-framing with rendered panels in between, and the original house has a long wall that jetties at the front on brackets. The roof is thatched and hipped at the left end, with axial chimneys made of red brick, including a group of four mid-16th century octagonal shafts with moulded caps and bases, set on a square plinth with a sunk panel.

The windows are a mix of 16th and 17th century moulded mullioned designs, restored in the 20th century with iron casements and leaded lights, along with some 18th century leaded casements. The entrance door, added in the 20th century, is boarded and features an arched-headed frame with carved spandrels. Inside, the original house has arch-braced close-studding and twin arched service doorways leading to the buttery and pantry. Above the fireplaces in the parlour and parlour chamber, there are late 16th century black letter inscriptions painted on plaster; one quotes the Geneva Bible of 1560, while the other remains undeciphered. The parlour chamber also has a frieze of painted foliage and traces of extensive wall decoration.

The kitchen cross-wing on the right was added around 1600, and there is a small 18th century wing at the rear that may have been added as a separate dwelling. The house was restored and extended to the left in the early 20th century by Basil Oliver, an architect. The manor was held by the Sturgeon family from the 16th to the 18th century, and the encircling moat around the property likely dates back to the 13th or 14th century.