Norrington Manor With Wall And Gate Piers

ST 92 SE ALVEDISTON

6/1 Norrington Manor with wall and gate piers 6.1.66

I

Manor house. Late C14, C15, C16, late C17 and C19 services. Dressed limestone, tiled roof, ashlar stacks. Consists of C14 three-bay hall and cross passage with flanking 2-storey C17 cross wings, C16 two-storey range to front. C15 porch to right of front has heavy moulding to pointed archway, diagonal and angle buttresses, moulded string course and hollow-chamfered light over archway, pointed window to left return, to left are three 2-light pointed cusped windows with transoms lighting hall, with intermediate buttresses. Cross wing to right has two ovolo- moulded cross windows to ground and first floor, 2-light ovolo- mullioned window to attic and saddleback coped verge. Cross wing to left has 5-light mullioned window with hoodmould to ground floor and first floor has mullioned and transomed window with hoodmould, saddleback coped verge. Projecting to left is 2-storey, 5-window range with 2-light ovolo-mullioned windows and string course, rear of this range has inserted C20 doors and 3-light and 2-light ovolo- mullioned windows to ground floor, first floor has one C16 2-light square-headed window with round-arched lights and 2-light or 3- light chamfered or hollow-chamfered mullioned windows. Left return of west cross wing has hollow-chamfered doorway, rear of this has two chamfered lights to C14 undercroft and 5-light mullioned and transomed window to first floor, former stairs to solar are lit by 3-light ovolo-mullioned window. Rear of hall has two 2-light cusped pointed windows as front and pointed chamfered doorway to through passage and 3-light casement to left, 2 buttresses with offsets. East cross wing has ovolo-moulded cross windows, ovolo-mullioned window to attic and hollow-moulded string courses. Rear C17 wing has same string course and C20 casements. Right return of cross wing has 4-light Tudor-arched window lighting stairs, large external stacks either side, 2-light casement to dormer. Late C19 service wing to right has 2-light and 3-light casements. Interior: porch has fine ribbed stone vault with quatrefoils, on carved head corbels with grotesque boss, depressed Tudor-arched inner door. Hall has Tudor-arched stone fireplace and chamfered doorway to solar at west end, rebuilt roof. 2-bay rib-vaulted undercroft of late C14, rest of west solar wing rebuilt Cl7; blocked Tudor-arched fireplace and deeply-chamfered arched doorway, C19 roof. East wing retains good C17 closed string newel stairs with squat turned balusters. Attached to front are low stone walls with saddleback coping, square gate piers with pineapples in acanthus leaves. Manor house probably built by John Gawen who bought property 1377. C17 alterations probably by the Wyndhams who aquired estate in 1658. (N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Wiltshire, 1975.)

Listing NGR: ST9662223806