Manor House And Abutting Kitchen Block

Manor House and Abutting Kitchen Block

A manor house, now residential, possibly built around 1580 for Sir Richard Fiennes. A porch, kitchen block, and staircase projection were added in the 17th century. The building was restored in 1927–28 by Walter Tapper for the owner M.E. Baner, when a west wing was added. Further restorations and repairs were carried out in 1986.

The south garden front is constructed of ashlar ironstone with a steeply pitched stone slate roof. Stone end, ridge, and lateral stacks feature some diagonally set shafts. Stone coped gables display moulded kneelers. The building follows a 3-unit plan with an attached kitchen block and 20th-century wing, rising three storeys across a 5-window range.

Two entrances, both with corresponding doorways on the north side, are positioned at ground level. To the left stands a blocked 4-centred arched doorway to the former screens passage between hall and service. The off-centre right entrance to the former passage between hall and parlour has a gabled stone porch combining classical and medieval detail: a Tudor arch with attached columns and entablature, and a plank door. The ground floor contains three 3-light stone mullioned and transomed windows to the left of the porch and 2-light and 3-light similar windows to the right. The first floor has four 4-light and one 3-light stone mullioned and transomed windows. The third floor has five 3-light stone mullioned windows. String courses run above the ground and first floors. The right end displays 6-light stone mullioned and transomed windows with king mullions to the ground and first floors, and a 4-light stone mullioned and transomed window to the third floor. The left end features a small projecting 3-storey garderobe tower and an adjoining almost square 2-storey kitchen block.

The rear elevation shows a gabled 4-storey staircase tower with 2- and 3-light stone mullioned windows. To the left is a 2-storey 17th-century addition with a doorway featuring a chamfered stone head and 3-light stone mullioned windows. To the right, 20th-century additions in 17th-century style, including the wing by Walter Tapper, rise 2 to 3 storeys. The main building's windows have cavetto section mouldings, while the 17th and 20th-century additions feature windows of flat splay section.

The interior originally followed a plan of parlour, hall, and service with two screens passages, now obscured by 20th-century alterations. The ground floor now contains three rooms: parlour, hall (measuring 20 feet by 38 feet), and a small room used as a dining room. The hall and parlour both have large lateral fireplaces, the hall's fireplace distinguished by fine moulding. A fine square-headed doorway connects the hall to the stair tower. A solid oak staircase, built around a central newel with flights 5 feet wide and quarter landings, rises through the building. The first and second floors are divided by timber partitions to provide three spacious chambers on each floor. The main roof is an 8-bay butt-purlin, collar-rafter structure with jointed wall posts and straight windbraces. 17th-century features include panelling, stop-chamfered beams, plank doors, and wrought-iron casement fasteners.

The abutting kitchen block is constructed of ashlar ironstone with a steeply pitched stone slate roof and stone end stack. Square in plan, it rises two storeys plus an attic. The windows are 2- and 3-light stone mullioned examples with hood moulds and label stops. An original throughway connected the kitchen to the hall via the garderobe tower, which now contains a 20th-century concrete spiral staircase. The second or top storey (referred to as the long room) is said to have been used by William 1st Viscount Saye and Sele to secretly drill soldiers during the Civil War.

The building represents a notable sub-medieval example providing a direct antecedent for the yeoman house of the 17th century, reflecting developments in plan type, architectural detailing, and roof structure. It is the earliest known example in the Banbury region of a house with a complete second floor.