Thorley Manor

Thorley Manor is a manor house dating to circa 1712. It is constructed of coursed stone rubble with ashlar dressings and has a hipped roof covered in old tiles, the two lowest courses being stone slates, with four tall brick chimneystacks. The building comprises two parallel ranges and has two storeys with five windows. It features a deep wooden eaves cornice with modillions, a string course, and a plinth. The windows are mostly unusual mid-18th century cross casements with marginal glazing and keystones to the ground floor.

The front elevation has a central doorcase with a flat hood on brackets, framing a four-centred arched stone doorway with high stops; the upper part of the doorway has been replaced in concrete and contains a 20th-century panelled door. Small oval windows flank the doorway. A mid-20th-century extension, designed to resemble the original windows, is attached to the right-hand side and serves as a gun room. The rear elevation includes two gabled dormers and a ground-floor extension dating to the mid-20th century, with two windows of matching design.

The interior contains a fine early 18th-century staircase with two turned balusters to each tread and scrolled tread ends, with the first-floor landing opening to the front of the house. The ground floor features early 19th-century hexagonal paving. The dining room has a 19th-century fireplace with tulip capitals that was brought into the room. On the first floor, there are two early 18th-century panelled doors, a two-panelled door with L hinges, and a blocked mullioned window.

Thorley Manor was one of the original Domesday Manors. It was held by the Urry family between 1523 and 1679. In 1679, it was sold to Sir Robert Holmes, Governor of the Isle of Wight, who settled the estate on his natural daughter, Mary. Upon his death in 1692, the estate passed to his nephew, Henry Holmes, who was required to marry his cousin, Mary.