The Manor House

The Manor House is a large house built in 1844 by George Basevi in the Tudor style for the Bray family. A sympathetic extension was added around 1885. It stands in Shere, Surrey.

The original building is constructed from local Hurtwood stone with galleting and has a tiled roof with seven rendered chimneystacks. The house is two storeys and has attics, presenting three windows to the west. Casement windows with hood moulding are a prominent feature. The symmetrical north or entrance front has a projecting two-storey porch with a gable, kneelers, a blank shield, an oriel window, and an arched doorcase. One of the triple arched windows, hooded, on this front is blind. The south elevation features slightly projecting end wings with pointed casements to the upper floors and canted bays with simple vertical glazing to the ground floor windows. A central arched entrance has a French window. The west elevation has a projecting bay to the left and a gabled porch to the right, with a large service wing to the east with three gables and triple arched casements. The north side has an oriel window and a curved corner facing former stables and a coach house. This wing is taller to the east due to the sloping ground, and has sash windows facing east. Most windows retain their original form and have interior shutters. The 1885 extension is built of two storeys from random rubble stone in local stone, and features an oriel window facing east.

The Drawing Room contains a fine marble fireplace with trefoliated spandrels and panels, a cornice with floral moulding, and an arched opening with a moulded cornice. A grand staircase has two turned balusters to each step and a column newel post. Dado panelling to the staircase and hall is likely from the 1880s, along with the door shutters. The former Dining Room incorporates a black marble fireplace with a four-centred arch and pilasters. A bedroom has a wooden surround and a cast-iron firegrate. Original four-panelled doors are throughout. The service wing preserves a service staircase with stick balusters and a panelled base, a dumbwaiter, a wine cellar with brick bins, some bedrooms with built-in cupboards and barrel-vaulted basements. A room in the 1885 wing has two octagonal wooden columns and a fireplace with a four-centred arch and a slate surround.