Copton Manor

Manor house dating to circa 1300, with substantial remodelling and extensions during the 18th century and mid-19th century. The building is constructed of flint and rubble stone, rendered, with plain tiled roofs. Originally a hall house, it comprises a two-storey chamber block, an offset wing (bailiff’s quarters), and a 19th-century ballroom added to the chamber block.

The entrance front is two storeys and attic with a tall hipped roof, featuring three gabled dormers and stacks to the rear left, centre, and right. It has three glazing bar sashes on the first floor and two tripartite glazing bar sashes on the ground floor. A slightly off-centre panelled door, with the top two panels glazed, is topped by a semi-circular fanlight and a flat hood on pilasters. A two-storey half-octagonal bay window is to the left, with glazing bar sashes, and a single-storey extension with two sashes is to the right; the overall appearance is slightly asymmetrical.

The left return is two storeys, with the upper storey breaking the eaves line. It has a large hipped roof with a gablet, and stacks to the left, centre, and right. It has two glazing bar sashes on the first floor, and two tripartite glazing bar sashes on the ground floor, with a blocked screen passage entry to the centre left. A small blocked 19th-century porch is in the re-entrant angle with the cross wing to the right.

The bailiff’s quarters, now a potting shed, originally projected from the left end wall, and the stone gable still stands, projecting from the main range. The remainder of that range is of painted brick, two storeys high, with one casement window and a boarded door on the ground floor.

The rear features a weatherboarded external staircase with a bell pull, constructed for farmhands to access attic accommodation in the main range. An ogee-headed two-light window is on the rear wall, originally with some tracery.

The interior retains its original features despite the later alterations and additions, including three scissor-braced roofs over the chamber block, hall (showing smoke-blackening), and bailiff’s quarters (with added tie-beams). Pointed chamfered doorways and blocked windows are in various positions. The hall roof is of particularly high-quality workmanship. Mason's marks associated with Canterbury Cathedral between 1166 and 1220 are present, although the ogee-headed windows suggest an early 14th-century date.