Hordley House

Hordley House is a house, now divided into a house and three flats, with a complex history spanning the mid-16th century to the 19th century. The core of the building dates from the mid-to-late 16th century, with significant alterations and extensions occurring around 1600 for John Gregory (died 1613), a rear range remodelled in 1730 (marked by a datestone), and a front range altered around 1810 for the Blenheim Estate.

The house is constructed of coursed and uncoursed limestone rubble, with gabled stone slate roofs. Later 19th-century brick stacks are prominent on the front range, while the left range features an early 17th-century stone end stack incorporating a diagonally-set brick flue and a massive lateral stone stack with a range of five diamond-set flues. The building follows a courtyard plan. It has two storeys and an attic, and its front facade presents a six-window range. A prominent early 19th-century semi-circular arched doorway is fitted with a six-panelled door and a Gothick fanlight. Flat stone arches grace four early 19th-century eight-pane sash windows, while timber lintels cover C19 casements with iron opening lights.

The original right range of the mid-to-late 16th century showcases a chamfered round-headed light with sunk spandrels and a three-light chamfered wood-mullioned window, along with a similar two-light round-headed window in the rear gable. The left range, built around 1600, features two- and three-light ovolo-moulded wood-mullioned windows, a gabled dormer, and a late 19th-century gable. The rear range of 1730 is characterized by flat stone arches and pierced stone ventilators, formerly serving as a dairy outshut. A 17th-century four-light ovolo-moulded wood-mullioned window is found in the right gable. A brick-dressed rear wing was added in 1883.

The courtyard displays 17th-century ovolo-moulded wood-mullioned windows, some with leaded lights, across all ranges. Early 19th-century panelled doors are situated on the front and rear ranges, with a blocked 16th-century gallery doorway above the front door. A plank door serves the rear wing.

Internally, the front range features early 17th-century panelling with a reeded frieze and an early 19th-century marble fireplace. A stop-chamfered doorway is located to the left, while the upper floor reveals two similar panelled rooms and an early 17th-century arched fireplace with panelling in a gallery. A stop-chamfered door frame and an early 17th-century panelled door, set in a heavily chamfered frame, lead to the right wing and the attic, respectively. The roof consists of a four-bay mid-to-late 16th-century structure of collar trusses with clasped purlins, the lower order of purlins windbraced and clasped between the principal rafter and jowled queen strut. A later 16th-century two-bay butt-purlin roof is present to the left of the stack. The rear right wing contains a newel staircase, stop-chamfered beams, and chamfered doorframes with a 17th-century panelled door to the attic. The early 17th-century rear left wing showcases stop-chamfered beams, stop-chamfered doorways to the front, a moulded arched doorway with carved spandrels, and a similar chamfered doorway leading to the rear of the newel stairs. A first-floor room contains a rare set of 17th-century panelled linen cupboards, featuring decorative S-hinges and remnants of a 1758 inventory. A collar-truss roof with butt purlins completes this wing. The rear range has stop-chamfered beams, a moulded and arched stone fireplace, winder stairs, and a 17th-century plank door.