Stanbury Manor And Garden Wall About 6 Metres South Of The South Front

Stanbury Manor and Garden Wall

This farmhouse, formerly a manor house, dates from the late 16th and 17th centuries with some 18th-century work and 20th-century alterations. It was built in the late 16th century for John Manning and his wife Christian. The building is constructed of roughly-squared stone with polyphant and granite dressings, and has a slate roof hipped at the ends, which was renewed in the 1970s. Two stone chimneys with moulded caps stand on the ridge.

The present L-shaped plan likely represents two surviving ranges of what was originally a late 16th-century courtyard plan. The late 16th-century north range follows a three-room and through-passage plan, with a heated parlour and hall at the higher end. The lower end room may have been the kitchen, though the present room is unheated and disturbance to the east wall suggests rebuilding, possibly with the stack dismantled. The length of the through passage implies the Manning build was at least L-shaped; numerous granite mullions and moulded stones in the garden suggest a likely original courtyard plan. A stair to the rear of the lower end and a rear left kitchen wing probably date from late 17th-century remodelling. Porches at both north and south ends of the through passage provide entry; the main entrance is through the north porch, while the south porch forms an inner entry from the garden side.

The house presents two storeys with a long, asymmetrical two-window range of defensive appearance, featuring projecting front lateral stacks to the hall and parlour. A two-storey gabled porch occupies the centre, with a stair projection on the front right. The porch has a moulded, stopped, arched granite doorway under a square-headed hoodmould with label stops carved with the initials J.M. The ground floor window to the left is a four-light hollow-chamfered stone mullioned window with a King mullion, hoodmould and label stops, fitted with leaded panes. Two first-floor windows to the left of the porch are two-light casements with leaded panes; one was formerly a mullioned window with sill, jambs and lintel intact. The first-floor window in the porch is a three-light, hollow-chamfered, stone mullioned window. The first-floor window in the stair projection is 20th-century. Two stone ridge chimneys display moulded caps. The south porch doorway is similar to the north porch doorway, also bearing Manning's initials in the label stops. The inner doorway to the north porch features an arched granite opening with label stops carved with both J.M. and C.M.

The interior contains unmoulded cross beams in the through passage and hall, probably originally plastered. The hall has a large moulded granite fireplace lintel carved with the names of John and Christian Manning, dated 1585. The parlour is panelled throughout with bolection-moulded panelling, with the date 1706 scratched on the lintel above the parlour door. A 20th-century fireplace was inserted in the parlour. The doorway from the passage into the lower end room has moulded jambs and complex stops. The 17th-century kitchen has a massive fireplace with a fireplace beam. A chamfered, stopped stone doorway leads into the rear stair, which is constructed of oak over stone. The stair in the front projection is a dogleg design with some 17th-century turned balusters, others being 19th-century replacements. First-floor doorways feature ovolo moulded and chamfered stopped detailing. One fireplace displays an ovolo-moulded lintel. The roof contains trusses with collars lap-dovetailed into principals, and two tiers of threaded purlins; the ridge and rafters have been replaced. One truss over the lower end has a collar probably morticed into principals which rest on a low chamfered beam in the first-floor room on the left. The roof has been widened to the rear. A large moulded stone in the garden may be a plinth from a large granite gateway. The stone rubble garden wall to the south has moulded coping stones probably re-used from Stowe House, which was demolished in 1739.

The Manor of Stanbury is documented from 1296 and was the birthplace of John Stanbury, who became Bishop of Hereford in 1453. The property passed to the Mannings in the 15th century.