Medieval manor house and platform at Tyneham House

Medieval Manor House and Platform at Tyneham House

This is the remains of a former open-hall house, built in the 14th century and altered in the late 16th century, early 19th century, and late 20th century.

The building is constructed of Purbeck stone rubble, brought to course, and is now roofed with late 20th-century corrugated metal sheeting, having previously had a stone slate roof. It has a rectangular footprint, oriented roughly south-west to north-east, and represents three bays of what was probably a four-bay structure, or possibly three bays with a cross wing at the east end.

The doorway and window openings on both the south and north elevations appear to be later insertions with no indication of original entrances. The north elevation was partly rebuilt in the late 16th century. It features a central doorway with a modern plank door that previously had a 16th-century surround with a four-centred arch and plain shields in the spandrels (documented in 1968 but removed probably in the late 20th century). A 16th-century mullion two-light first-floor window above the doorway has also been removed. On the ground floor, windows flank either side of the entrance, though the one in the west bay has been altered to a doorway; the remaining first-floor windows are horizontal sliding timber sashes. The openings are boarded over. A blocked doorway in the east gable wall previously led to a later single-storey building.

The hall is formed of the east and central bays, possibly originally extending to an additional bay to the east that no longer survives. It is divided vertically by a cross wall of random stone rubble and horizontally by a first floor, both added in the late 16th century. On the ground floor, the east room contains a large late 16th-century fireplace with a segmental-pointed arched stone surround, now supported by a late 20th-century wooden frame. This may have originally been in a mid-16th-century wing (mentioned by Bond and described as the 'old kitchen' in a 1935 Country Life article) that was located to the east of the 14th-century house and was rebuilt in the 1820s as a dining room. A full-height timber-framed partition (closed truss) divides the hall from the former service bay to the west. At ground-floor level it has later brick infill but retains evidence of a pair of 14th-century doorways. The jambs of the north doorway and one to the south doorway survive, they are chamfered and are jointed into a finely-moulded cross beam with quarter-round moulding on the east, hall side. The west side of the partition contains an upright with a curved head that projects at right angles, appearing to be the remains of a jamb for a doorway. This may be evidence of a lateral partition in the service bay which would have originally been divided into a buttery and pantry. A doorway at the north end of the partition is a historic insertion that was later blocked by the addition of the stone staircase to the east. At first-floor level, the partition's wattle and daub infill does not survive but there is a central stud with a pair of curved braces on the south side of it. The braces to the north are missing, although redundant mortices indicate their positions. One brace was removed when a first-floor doorway was added, and the other was still extant in 1965. Above the tie beam there is wattle and daub infill, a central stud and four cranked braces that rise to the slightly-cambered collar. Above the collar are two raking struts. The upper parts of the partition's east side are smoke blackened.

On the ground floor of the service bay, the partition contains an upright post with a curved head that projects at right angles into the room, appearing to be the remains of a jamb for a doorway and possibly evidence of a lateral partition in the service bay which would have originally been divided into a buttery and pantry. There is also evidence that the ground floor was ceiled over, probably in the late 16th century at the same time as the floor was inserted in the hall. It is unclear if the service bay originally had an upper floor, but given the early date of the building it is more likely it was open to the roof. The floor inserted into the hall is reached by a winder stone newel stair to the right of the entrance and is supported by an axial chamfered beam with stepped run-out stops.

The roof over the hall includes an open truss between the central and eastern bays which has an arch-braced collar beam with cusped braces (the lower parts are missing) that curve upwards to form an ogee at the centre. The principals are supported on timber posts that rise from first-floor level and are partially buried within the north and south walls. The RCHME suggests that a short horizontal beam, which has been cut back, originally projected from each post to form a false hammer beam arrangement that supported the arch braces. Above the collar are two cusped struts that form an open quatrefoil at their centre. Many of the pegs project westwards from the truss which indicates that the high end of the hall was towards the east. Other elements of the original medieval roof structure over the hall survive reinforced with late 20th-century timbers and comprise two rows of purlins with two tiers of wind braces supporting them and common rafters. All are smoke blackened. The lower row of purlins have the quarter-round moulding on their lower edge while the upper ones have a simpler plain chamfered edge. The lower tier of wind braces are also more decorative than the upper tier, with cusping to their lower edge. The purlins and wind braces can be seen continuing in the same form beyond the later stone stack but beyond this (to the east) the roof has been replaced with later timbers. Part of the roof over the service bay is concealed by later plaster but the rafters that are exposed are replacements. It is unclear if it retains any surviving medieval roof timbers.

In front of the building, and running the length of it, is a raised stone rubble platform with steps leading to the entrance.