Workshop 25 Metres North East Of Church Of St James

This is a banqueting house, now used as a workshop, dating from approximately 1570 to 1580. It is attributed to Robert Smythson. The west front is constructed of limestone ashlar, while the other elevations are of coursed rubblestone, with a corrugated iron roof dating to around 1927. The building is single-storied with four windows on the west front. The west front features two pairs of four-light square-headed windows with Tudor-arched lights and hoodmoulds; the left window survives intact, while the others are blocked or partly removed. A blocked round-arched doorway with an impost is located to the right, alongside several 20th-century inserted fixed windows. The south gable (right return) has a two-light hollow-moulded mullioned window with a hoodmould on the ground floor, and two blocked, formerly two-light, mullioned windows on the first floor, where the mullions are missing. The north gable (left return) features a double-chamfered round-arched doorway to the right and the remains of a four-light window similar to those on the west side. The east front (rear) has a restored double-chamfered round-arched doorway corresponding with the west front's doorway, along with inserted 20th-century sliding doors and windows.

Inside, steel trusses support a low-pitched 20th-century roof, which replaced a steeper original roof. The west wall has two pairs of round-headed, semi-circular niches with rusticated pilasters and cornices positioned between each pair of windows; these features show signs of fire damage. A fireplace in the centre of the west wall is said to have similar features. Traces of original decorative plasterwork remain, including a panel over the north door of the west wall featuring a moulded architrave and ribbon bows, and simple moulding indicating a possible former coved ceiling cornice. The original plan likely consisted of an open hall with a passage at the south end, where services were located and where there may have been limited accommodation on an upper floor.

The attribution to Smythson is based on the combination of Classical and Tudor architectural styles, similar to those found at Old Wardour, where Smythson likely worked around 1576. The property, together with the Manor House, was not acquired by Sir Matthew Arundell of Wardour until 1594. The paired niches correspond closely with those at Old Wardour, particularly regarding the use of single rustication blocks, a style also extensively employed by Smythson at Wollaton, Nottingham.