Chippinghurst Manor House And Attached Garden Walls

The manor house at Chippinghurst, dating to the late 16th century, was substantially reconstructed and extended in 1937 by Fielding Dodd for James McDougall. It is constructed of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar quoins, and has a plain-tile roof with brick stacks. The building is arranged around a U-shaped plan, with projecting east and west wings flanking the main entrance in the south wing, forming a north-facing court. A three-storey, pyramid-roofed turret stands in the south-east angle. Its design incorporates a two-course stone weathering at storey height, and a leaded, oak-frame window in the top stage with three internal diamond mullions. Most of the court-facing work is from the 20th century, with the exception of the chimney-stack, which has diagonal shafts, and a blocked single-light window, both located in the east wing. The east front features a moulded plinth, stone eaves-cove, and ashlar storey-band, with a range of four-light windows. First-floor windows include a single light window positioned between the pair to the left of centre. Ground-floor windows have labels, and the sills of the two leftmost windows have been lowered. A four-centre arched doorway is concealed behind a stone and tiled porch, which has a similar doorway under a label. The porch gable features a parapet with console kneelers and an obscured datestone. Projecting stacks are present on the gable walls: one to the left with old brick diagonal shafts and an ornamental lead sun dial, and another to the right beside a 16th-century two-light stone-mullioned window. The drawing room in the east wing retains restored Tudor-arched stone fireplaces with moulded surrounds, though the house is generally extensively remodelled. Stone walls extend from the east front; to the right, these incorporate a 16th/17th-century four-centre arched doorway, while to the left, they provide access to a walled garden on the south side of the house. The walled garden is enclosed by 18th-century brick walls built in Flemish bond, with flat stone copings. Brick piers to the south are capped with moulded stone cornices and have 20th-century wrought iron gates. James McDougall, for whom the house was remodelled, was the inventor of self-raising flour.