The Dower House

The Dower House is a mansion, originally built as a rectory, dating to the 17th century with a substantial mid-19th century extension to the south and early 20th century additions to the north. The original core is a two-storey block with a tile roof. Its upper walls are red brick in English bond above flint walls, featuring casement windows set within chamfered stone frames, which are single units or pairs with mullions. The southward extension is a taller, double-pile structure of Victorian/Tudor style, with red brick walls in Flemish bond and stone dressings. It features raised gables, a crenellated parapet with Gothic weathering, hoodmoulds to mullioned windows, and finials. A two-storey porch is centrally located, with a gable above a stone oriel above a Tudor archway. To the south of the porch is a single-storey castellated unit, and above the main wall is a Gothic staircase window. Other elevations also feature two-storey projections with matching details. A service wing, largely rebuilt and extended in the early 20th century, runs at a right angle to the main north-south axis, abutting the street. It has irregular fenestration and three unequal gables above jettied first floors, incorporating bricknogged timber framing above brick walls. A stone-framed doorway sits beneath the middle gable. Boundary walls of flint with brick dressings extend on either side, with a Tudor stone doorway and gabled roof on the west side. A red brick, castle-style tower, also from the early 20th century, stands between the service wing and the original building, featuring a parapet on stone brackets, narrow slit windows, and an octagonal staircase turret in the northeast corner. Internally, the original section contains a fine oak ceiling. The mid-19th century section includes a panelled room with 17th-century panels, a patterned ceiling, and a fireplace of matching style. Other areas, such as the staircase and entrance hall, feature detail in a "Jacobean" style. The building represents a remarkable combination of architectural elements, all in late Tudor and Jacobean styles, but from different periods.