Friars Court

Friars Court is a farmhouse dating back to the mid-17th century, with possible origins in a medieval building, and extended in the early 19th century, with later additions and alterations. It is constructed of uncoursed limestone rubble, with roughcast to the front of the main range, and has stone slate roofs with coped verges and carved stone kneelers. The building follows a 3- or 4-unit through-passage plan, with a twin-gabled range at the rear forming an L-shape. It has two storeys and an attic, set on a moulded plinth.

The front of the house has chamfered mullion windows with dripstones to the first floor, generally 3 lights, with one to the left and above and to either side of the central entrance. Ground-floor windows are similar, but with 4 lights, except for an infilled 3-light window which formerly lit the staircase to the left of the centre. Three evenly-spaced, gabled eaves dormers with coped verges and carved kneelers feature on the roof. Integral ashlar end stacks with chamfered dripstones and capping are on the right-hand side, and a similar ridge stack is above the infilled window to the left. A 19th-century gabled porch has an outer Tudor arch, rectangular windows to the sides, and an inner half-glazed panelled door within a Tudor arch. The left gable end is stepped in three stages, with the top of the second stage roughly at the dripstone level of the front windows, which may indicate the earlier eaves line of a previous building; a similar eaves line is also visible on the back wall. A ramped buttress to the rear left corner is thought to be of medieval origin. Mullion windows from the 17th century are present in the back wall.

The rear range is three storeys high. An early 19th-century two-storey range attached to the right of the main range has 20th-century casement windows on each floor to the left and right of the porch, similar to the main range, above a flush 4-panel door. There is an infilled window below the eaves, and a small integral end stack to the right; a lean-to projection at the base likely housed a bread oven. 19th-century rubble stone lean-tos are located to the rear and to the right of the twin-gabled range.

The interior features an early to mid-19th-century staircase with stick balusters and a wreathed handrail to the left of the main entrance, although a winder staircase formerly lit by an infilled window has reportedly been removed. Another winder staircase is believed to remain in the rear range. The house is said to stand on the site of a preceptory of Knights Hospitallers, which was refounded in Clanfield before 1279 and united with Quenington (Gloucestershire) around 1433. A well-preserved moat surrounding two sides of the house, along with fragments of medieval window tracery in the garden (not included in this listing), reinforce this history. A 20th-century lean-to conservatory located in the angle between the main and rear ranges is not considered to be of special architectural interest.