Billingham Manor

Billingham Manor is a large house, built in the early 17th century and significantly remodelled in the 18th century, located in Shorwell. While originally known as Billingham House, it was never actually a manor house. The west front bears a date of 1631, although it was partly refenestrated later in the 17th century. A major remodelling occurred around 1729 when the house passed to Edward Worsley, son of Sir Edward Worsley of Gatcombe House.

The house is constructed of a mix of stone rubble and red brick in Flemish bond, with grey brick headers and stone dressings. The tiled roof is punctuated by brick chimney stacks. It is two storeys high with attics and a basement, and features projecting end wings to the east and a projecting service wing to the southwest.

The west or entrance front is of stone rubble and has an irregular arrangement of windows. Two dormers with casement windows top the roof. The first floor features a 12-pane sash with wide glazing bars to the extreme left, followed by a five-light mullioned and transomed casement, another 12-pane sash with narrow glazing bars, and the projecting service wing with cross windows. The ground floor contains a two-light mullioned window and an early 18th-century projecting, pedimented porch with a triglyph frieze and rusticated pilasters, sheltering a two-panelled door. This is flanked by 12-pane sashes. A plinth runs along the base. A two-storey projection, initially a 17th-century porch, is located to the south, retaining its original gable and finial. A stone dated 1631 is positioned to the north of the porch. The north front is entirely of red brick in Flemish bond, dating from around 1729, with four early 18th-century 12-pane sashes and thick glazing bars, with rubbed brick voussoirs above. The end first-floor windows have brick architraves, complete with “ears” and feet. Basement windows are mullioned.

The east or garden front, also from the early 18th century, consists of a central three-bay section and projecting end wings with hipped roofs of one bay each. It is constructed of red brick in diaper bond, with grey brick headers and stone quoins and dressings. A stone plinth is present, and 12-pane sashes are set within stone architraves with keystones. Five dormers contain casements, the central one triple-light. A central doorcase features a cornice, plain pilasters, and a six-panelled door, with the top two panels cut away and glazed.

The south front rises to three storeys and attics. The right-hand side is of red brick in diaper bond with end quoins and five mainly 12-pane sashes. The ground floor is of stone rubble, with 17th-century mullioned windows and a stone doorcase with curved heads. A two-storey stone service wing, dating back to the early 20th century with metal windows, extends to the west, becoming single-storey with a four-light window and plank door.

The interior features a fine early 18th-century staircase with three turned balusters to each step and scrolled tread ends. There is some early 18th-century panelling in the hall and 17th-century panelling in a rear passage on the right-hand side. A secondary winder staircase is also present. The dining room contains an early 18th-century rotating bookcase concealed behind a sliding panel. Historically, the house was owned by J.B. Priestley.