Manor Farmhouse and Attached Gate Piers

Manor Farmhouse and Attached Gate Piers

This farmhouse, now a house, was completely rebuilt in the early 18th century, replacing a probably earlier structure. It has undergone various alterations and additions in the later 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The building is constructed of limestone rubble, rendered, with the render lined out as ashlar on the south front. Stone dressings are present throughout, and the roof is pantiled with gable stacks, including some double Roman tiles to the rear.

The building is L-shaped in plan, incorporating a rear wing. The south front rises to 2½ storeys across 6 bays, with the 2 centre bays broken forward. The ground floor contains two 18-pane sash windows with keystones, dying voussoirs and cills, featuring thick glazing bars flat on the outside and ovolo-moulded inside. The first floor to the right has 2 similar sashes, while the first floor to the left has 2 later 18th-century sashes with thin glazing bars and the same surround. The centrepiece is a tall 8-panelled fielded door with rusticated jambs and an ovolo-moulded lintel, crowned with a heavy triple keystone, lantern, pulvinated frieze and segmental pediment. To each side of this door are narrow 12-pane sashes with thick glazing bars, triple keystones and cills. Above are two 18-pane sashes, with thick glazing bars to the left and thinner ones to the right in the same surround. A pediment sits over the central 2 bays, with cornices over the side bays. Two hipped 2-light dormers with ball finials crown the façade. The south front also displays a plinth and projecting long and short quoins.

The left return is rendered with a 20th-century window at ground floor level. A datestone inscribed 1624 is set at upper level with illegible initials. The cornice is returned a short distance along this elevation.

Attached to the front right are a pair of square gate piers in limestone rubble with stone dressings, standing approximately one metre high with a cornice and large ball finials. A flight of 6 stone steps lies between them.

The right return features a large cellar door with a segmental head to the left, and a double external stair leading to a 20th-century door with a flat wooden hood. Above this is a small 19th-century sash with margin glazing. The 2-storey rear wing to the right contains 2 19th-century cross windows with leaded lights in the upper sections at ground floor level, and 2 sashes at first floor with plate glass lower sections. The upper sections have 9-pane thick glazing bars to the left and thin glazing bars to the right, with keystones. The cornice is returned a short distance from the front, and coping runs along the rear wing. All this section is rendered. A lean-to is attached to the right rear with a 20th-century door and a 2-light casement with iron stanchions and wooden shutters.

The rear of the main block features a large early 18th-century stair light with a segmental head to the left, containing 32 panes with thick glazing bars and a keystone. To the right is a later 19th-century cross window with keystone and iron stanchions in the upper section. At ground floor right is a large 20th-century window with a keystone. Within the angle of the L-plan sits a single-storey lean-to with a flat-roofed addition and a 20th-century window. The rear wing has a first floor right 8-pane 19th-century sash with keystone. A single-storey addition to the rear has a hipped double Roman tiled roof, a coped rear wall, and a gable end with a stack.

Interior features include the front left room, which is panelled with an egg and dart cornice and a shell cupboard with shaped shelves. The front right room is panelled in plaster with an eaved panel over the fireplace, a heavy modillion cornice, a dado rail, and shutters to all windows. An open-well stair to the rear has turned balusters and a moulded handrail, with panelling ramped up to the sides featuring pilasters at intervals. A moulded plaster ceiling adorns the wide entry hall.