Bingham'S Melcombe House

Bingham's Melcombe House is a large house with a gatehouse and hall, likely originating in the early 16th century. It has undergone numerous additions and alterations across the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The construction incorporates rubble walls, banded flint and stone, ashlar, and 'chequerboard' stone and flint detailing, topped with gable ended roofs covered in stone slate and tile. The roofs are punctuated by a variety of ashlar and brick stacks. The layout is an informal grouping around a courtyard; the north range contains the hall, featuring an oriel window flanked by two wings. The east portion of the south range forms a gatehouse, connected to the hall via a series of service rooms and other spaces built at various times.

The house is predominantly two stories high, with mainly stone mullioned windows or 18th-century sash windows. The most significant architectural feature is a mid-16th century oriel window of early Renaissance design. This incorporates elaborate corner standards with three stages, individualistic Ionic capitals, and spiral-turned pinnacles bearing eagle crests. The central piece of the oriel, housing the upper floor window, is finely carved and displays a central achievement of arms, flanked by side standards projecting beyond the gable coping and terminating in spiral-turned pinnacles. This is considered a prime example of the work of a regional group of mason-sculptors, probably based in Ham, active during that period. A north porch features a pedimented, early classical doorway, dated 1583, salvaged from Tyneham House.

Inside, there is a mix of 17th and 18th century panelling. The gatehouse has an arch-braced collar truss roof and an elaborate 17th-century overmantle with carved figures. The hall was largely remodelled in the 19th century, but retains an 18th-century moulded cornice and a four-centred arch to the oriel with moulded responds and foliate capitals. The oriel features a fireplace with a triangular head and foliate spandrels, two 16th-century doors with four-centred heads and foliate spandrels, an upper floor 16th-century fireplace with moulded lintel and jambs, and an original plaster barrel vault ceiling. A dining room boasts a mid-18th century chimney piece with side scrolls, a carved mask, and foliage, a 16th-century overmantle with carved ‘Adam and Eve’ figures, a 16th-century moulded rib ceiling, original looking glasses with carved frames, and decorative hangings. The east wing contains a black marble, bolection-moulded chimney piece, bolection-moulded panelling, a contemporary looking glass, and a staircase dating from around 1725 with turned balusters and newels and a moulded remade handrail. The west range exhibits 16th-17th century doors, 16th-century panelling, a 16th-century overmantle with roundels, and an arch-braced collar beam truss with remnants of painted decoration. The south range retains original open fireplaces and stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. Numerous other examples of carpentry and masonry craftsmanship, spanning various periods, are present throughout the house (see the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments for further details).