Manor Houses

Manor Houses

Three houses now, but originally a single dwelling of probably 16th or early 17th-century date. The building has been substantially altered, with changes evident from the late 17th century onwards, and further alterations and additions made in the mid to late 19th and 20th centuries.

The exterior is constructed of slatestone rubble with a thatched roof and gable ends. A gable end stack rises to the right, and an axial stack to the left with brick shafts. On the front elevation there is an external lateral stack serving the hall, with a rubble shaft, granite quoins, and carved stone gargoyles to the cornice.

The original plan was a three-room dwelling with a through passage. Each of the three rooms now forms a separate house. No. 1 to the left occupies the inner room, including the chamber above the through passage at first floor. No. 2 comprises the hall, now subdivided. No. 3 to the right contains the through passage and the lower end room. The lower end room was partitioned around the late 17th century to create a small unheated rear room, and is heated from the gable end stack. The hall is heated from the front lateral stack and has a stair tower to the rear, probably also a late 17th-century addition. The inner room is heated from the axial stack. When the house was divided into three, doorways were inserted into the front wall of the inner room, probably where a window originally stood, and into the hall to the left of the external stack, probably around the mid-19th century. There appears to have been a two-storey bay on the front of the inner room, likely removed around the mid-19th century.

The front elevation is asymmetrical with four windows across two storeys. No. 1 has a 19th-century six-panelled door with overlight and timber lintel at ground floor, and a two-light, six-pane casement with timber lintel. The masonry shows signs of rebuilding and may originally have had two window openings. At first floor there is a two-light, six-pane casement, probably of late 19th-century date, positioned where a window opening at a slightly lower level formerly existed. A late 20th-century single-storey lean-to addition with two windows and a door entirely conceals the rear of No. 1. No. 2 has a late 20th-century half-glazed door with seven-pane sidelight. At first floor is a two-light, five-pane casement with timber lintel. The front lateral stack is curved through ground and first floors with a square-plan shaft above. The stair tower is visible at the rear to the left, with a two-light, five-pane casement of 19th-century date. A single-storey late 20th-century addition extends along the entire rear. No. 3 has a recessed doorway with roughly chamfered timber lintel and granite steps. A 19th-century six-panelled door and an early 19th-century 21-pane casement with L hinges are to the left. Above is a two-light, six-pane casement with L hinges, slate cill, and timber lintel, of 19th-century date. To the right at ground floor are two two-light, six-pane casements, late 20th-century replacements, with chamfered and step-stopped timber lintels. At first floor is a similar two-light, six-pane casement with plain timber lintel. A smaller window opening is blocked. The rear has a late 20th-century window at ground floor and a late 20th-century two-light casement at first floor with timber lintel. Some render survives. A single-storey late 20th-century addition to the right conceals the rear doorway to the passage.

Interior: No. 1 contains a ground floor room with a plain moulded plaster cornice, carried complete around the splayed reveal for the front window and doorway. A straight stair has been inserted in the rear of the room with a cupboard beneath it, fitted with a two-panelled door with H hinges. The fireplace is late 20th-century. A solid masonry wall separates the inner room from the hall to the right. No. 2 consists of the hall at ground floor, now partitioned into two rooms. The main room has one very large chamfered beam with moulded cross beams. The winder stair in the stair tower has been rebuilt in the late 20th century. The rear wall contains a cupboard recess with a door fitted with strap hinges. The front lateral fireplace is blocked. At first floor, the chamber over the through passage has a chamfered wooden doorway with run-out stops. The door has raised fillets with studs and strap hinges. The chamber features a plain plaster barrel ceiling with part of a moulded cornice surviving. The chamber over the hall has a similar doorway with similar door with studs and strap hinges and likewise features a plain plaster barrel ceiling with a central moulded pendant and moulded cornice. On the rear wall is what may be a chimneybreast with moulded cornice and chamfered lintel, though there is no external evidence of a stack. Only the feet of the principal rafters are visible; these are curved, suggesting an early roof survives.

No. 3 comprises the through passage and the lower end room. A wooden screen partition formerly separated the passage from the hall to the left, now replaced by a late 20th-century concrete block wall. The passage has a stone floor with granite cill to the rear doorway, which is fitted with a plank door. The doorway to the lower end room to the right is fitted with an early 18th-century double panelled and fielded door. The room has a plaster ceiling with a central circular design and moulded cornice. It contains a fine bolection-moulded chimneypiece with moulded mantel. The front windows have splayed reveals. The room was probably partitioned around the early 18th century, with an early 18th-century two-panelled door to the rear. In the rear room, two large chamfered beams remain; the front room was ceiled below the level of the beams. At first floor, the room has been partitioned, probably in the 19th century. All beams are chamfered with run-out stops, very irregularly hewn, with one main large chamfered beam. There does not appear to have been a fireplace at first floor.