Chicksgrove Manor

Chicksgrove Manor is a substantial manor house of late 14th-century origin, situated on the north side of Chicksgrove Road in Lower Chicksgrove, Tisbury. The building has been substantially altered in the late 16th, 17th, and 19th centuries, and retains features spanning these periods of development.

The main structure is constructed of rubble stone with a thatched roof and brick and stone chimney stacks. The building is organised as a four-bay hall house with a single storey and attic, containing three windows across its principal elevation. It comprises a former three-bay open hall, a through passage positioned to the rear of an inserted stack, a solar wing that was rebuilt in the 17th century at the east end, and services rebuilt in the 19th century at the west end.

The front elevation features an early 17th-century two-storey porch set to the left of centre, with a stone Tudor-arched opening to the front and a moulded Tudor-arched doorway with planked door providing access to the through passage. The upper floor of the porch is carried on moulded wooden brackets. The porch includes a stone sundial and a two-light ovolo-mullioned casement with hoodmould. To the left of the porch is a four-light ovolo-mullioned casement, and to the right a three-light ovolo-mullioned casement with hoodmould. The attic is lit by two full gabled dormers, each containing three-light ovolo-mullioned casements. To the right are small square lights at ground and first-floor levels. The cross wing to the right has a three-light ovolo-mullioned casement to the ground floor and a two-light leaded casement to the first floor, with a pointed chamfered light to the attic. The right return of the cross wing contains two-light and three-light ovolo-mullioned casements.

The rear elevation displays a blocked doorway with a 20th-century mullioned casement to the right, a two-light casement, a three-light ovolo-mullioned casement, and a single chamfered light to the centre, with a Tudor-arched chamfered doorway providing access to the rear of the through passage and a two-light recessed chamfered mullioned casement to the right. The attic has two two-light ovolo-mullioned casements to eyebrow dormers on the left and one two-light mullioned casement to the right. Some of the mullioned windows are 20th-century renewals. To the right is a 19th-century single-storey service wing with two-light casements, a planked door with brick dressings, and a double Roman tiled roof.

The interior retains exceptional Medieval features. The three-bay former open hall at the west end of the house preserves its Medieval roof comprising two open trusses. The finer truss to the east is a deep arch-braced cranked collar truss with chamfered braces and a chamfered runner at the apex of the collar. The truss to the west appears to be a raised cruck with cranked collar, and a closed third truss stands to the east. A floor was inserted during the 16th century with very deep chamfered beams featuring stepped stops. Plank and muntin partitions with mouldings on the east side of the through passage separate the spaces, with matching doors or planked doors fitted with strap hinges. The back passage has exposed chamfered joists and a Tudor-arched wooden chamfered doorway at the solar end.

Open fireplaces inserted into the hall feature chamfered lintels with rounded corners set on chamfered stone jambs, and bread ovens are present. The drawing room in the cross wing contains reset 17th-century wainscot panelling and a deep chamfered beam. The fine overmantel to the open fireplace is carved with pilasters bearing lions' heads and a central lozenge featuring a man's face. The first floor includes a stone chamfered fireplace surround and planked or wainscot doors.

Attached to the front are low stone garden walls with flat coping and a three-step stone mounting block to the front.

Chicksgrove Manor is owned during the 17th century by the Davies family. John Davies, a family member, served as Attorney General of Ireland from 1603 to 1616. The house represents a very fine example of a Wiltshire manor house, retaining numerous features documenting its development across multiple centuries.