Finchden Manor

Finchden Manor is a large, 16th-century timber-framed house with later additions at the north-west end. According to historical records, Sir Thomas More, then Lord Chancellor of England, is believed to have visited the house. In the 19th century, it served as a Benedictine Priory, and it is now used as a school.

The south-west front, overlooking the garden, features a lower half of ground floor constructed of red brick with grey headers. Above this, the facade is plastered and painted black and white, creating the illusion of timbering. The house has three storeys, with three projecting gables featuring bressumers and a dormer window, alongside six bay windows below the gables. A two-storey projecting porch with a gable, the first floor of which is coved, is also present. To the north-west of the porch are two additional bays, without gables, one also coved. One of these bays bears the date 1658, likely indicating an alteration made in that year. Casement windows are found throughout. The garden elevation is predominantly brick.

The roof is notable for its massive brick chimney stack and hipped gables, two of which have fretted bargeboards. The right-side gable displays a bressumer with strapwork designs and fine 17th-century grotesque brackets. Lion head waterspouts and rainwater heads are also present. The central portion exhibits three hipped gables with four female grotesque brackets, while the left-side gable features exposed close-studded timbering. Inside, a 17th-century staircase with balusters remains.

Finchden Manor, along with its gatepiers, garden wall, and stables, and the nearby Maynard's Farmhouse and Priory Farmhouse (located on the south-west side of Appledore Road), form a group.