Central Building Of Wootton Manor

The central building of Wootton Manor is a country house, initially a mid-17th century farmhouse built on the site of a medieval manor house (with 14th-century masonry visible in the northwest wing). It was significantly enlarged in the same mid-17th century style by Detmar Blow for R. P. Gwynne, M.P. The house is constructed of red brick in English bond, with plain tile hipped and gabled roofs, hipped dormers, and brick stacks. A flint plinth is present on the west side, and flint walls with ashlar details – including an arched doorway and a cinquefoil-headed window—feature in the northwest wing.

The original 17th-century rectangular block was extended to the north and south by Blow. A large, hipped-roof wing, also by Blow, connects to the southwest corner of the south extension, while the northwest wing, converted from a barn by Blow, likely incorporates remains of a medieval chapel and links to a smaller north extension. Wings flank a raised terrace on the west side, which became the main entrance front in 1915 and is accessed through a forecourt that was formerly a farmyard. The west side features three storeys and attics, while the east side has a basement, with an east-side doorway originally the principal entrance positioned at a higher level. Brick platt bands link the floors, complemented by bold rusticated brick quoining, which Blow meticulously replicated in the extensions and southwest wing. The 17th-century east front is characterized by a pair of large, contiguous cross gables. A 20th-century gabled single-storey porch is centered to the right, flanked by sashes with narrow sash sidelights. Similar sashed windows, one with sidelights and one without, are above the porch on the first floor, with a small sash in each gable. The southwest wing’s east side has two large stacks with tall panelled shafts alternating with sashes with side lights on both floors, and a similar window features an arched head breaking through the eaves. The 17th-century east side has four sashes on both upper floors. A single-storey entrance porch with a hipped roof projects onto the terrace, off-center to the left, flanked by three-light casements. Single-light sashes are found in the linking extensions to the north and south. All windows have rubbed brick flat arch heads with projections at the centre and ends of each arch and contain glazing bars.

Inside the 17th-century block are exposed bridging beams and an 18th-century fireplace in the Dining Room. The north extension contains an early 18th-century open well staircase with twisted balusters and carved brackets at each tread end, which was brought from a house in Battersea belonging to the Gwynne family. The upper floor of the southwest wing houses the Library, designed by Blow and fully fitted with bookcases, featuring an 18th-century French Baroque-style marble fireplace.

Country Life, April 7 1955