Clifton House

Clifton House is a manor house, largely dating to the mid-16th century, likely built by Sir John Horsey. The original building was significantly demolished in 1786, with portions being re-erected in Dorset and Somerset, including a main front incorporated into Montacute House. An early 17th-century lodge was moved to Hinton St George in 1800. The house was reconditioned in 1906-7, with subsequent additions to the north and east sides. The present structure is believed to represent the east wing of the original manor.

The house is constructed of hamstone ashlar with half-octagonal buttresses facing south, incorporating plinths, mouldings, strings, and a pierced stone parapet with quatrefoils. It has plain clay-tile roofs with stone gable-copings and moulded finials. Stone stacks are visible on the west ridge, with 20th-century stone stacks in the south valley and flanking the east gable.

The south front is three-and-a-half storeys high, with two uneven bays of 16th-century origin and later window insertions. The ground floor features 2- and 4-light stone mullioned windows with 20th-century metal casements and lead lights. The first floor has sash windows with thick glazing-bars and moulded stone architraves, with paired sashes in the east bay. A gable above the parapet contains 3- and 2-light windows, the west having a label. A gabled stone porch with a finial and a depressed-arch head, dating to the early 20th century, provides access to a door incorporating late 16th-century woodwork.

The west front, also three-and-a-half storeys high, has four windows and a central doorway with an oriel in the gable. Sash windows with thick glazing-bars are set within moulded stone jambs and dropped keys, reflecting 18th-century remodelling. A canted oriel window projects from the central gable, featuring three transomed lights to the front and one on each return. Below the oriel sill is a band of sub-cusped quatrefoiled panels enclosing horse's heads (Horsey) and Tudor roses. The doorway is flanked by Roman Doric pilasters and an entablature with a segmental stone pediment, above a small 2-lead door and sash window.

The east front is of early 20th-century construction, added to the original core, and is two-and-a-half storeys high, with gabled ends. It has four windows with 2-, 3-, and 4-lights, stone mullioned, and featuring 20th-century metal casements with lead lights. A terrace sits centrally between the gables. A 20th-century front doorway, with moulded stone jambs and a depressed arch in a square head, is located on the ground floor, leading to a plank-and-muntin door. A single-story service range is attached to the north-east corner of the house.

Inside, the east wall of the Hall has two 16th-century doorways with moulded jambs and depressed arches, showcasing shields of the Horsey, Turgis, Horsey, and Maubank families in the spandrels. A reset 16th-century fireplace is found in the 20th-century dining room. A late 16th-century staircase has symmetrically turned balusters, square newels with pendants, and grip hand-rails. A second-floor room features 18th-century bolection-moulded oak panelling.