Moat House

Moat House

A large detached house now divided into two dwellings, located on the south side of Church Lane in Britford. The building dates from the 17th century but underwent substantial remodelling and additions in 1766 and the early 19th century.

The original 17th-century range is constructed of flint and stone. Later ranges and façades are faced in red or pale yellow brick beneath Welsh slate hipped roofs with stacks of red or pale yellow brick. The composition includes a central 18th-century range with additional wings to the rear and sides.

The front façade is a 2-storey elevation with thirteen windows arranged in seven bays. At the centre stands a glazed and panelled door flanked by pilasters with a flat wooden hood. To its left are two 9-pane sashes and to its right one 9-pane sash, all with segmental heads. These central bays are flanked by 2-storey brick canted bays, each containing three 9-pane sashes on the ground floor. To the right are two 20th-century windows and to the left one 20th-century window. The first floor features two pairs of ogee-headed sashes with Gothick tracery in the centre, with matching windows in the canted bays. To the right are 20th-century casements on the first and second floors of the service wing. The centre bays and canted bays are topped with brick battlemented parapets.

The right return has a central door with segmental head and a tripartite casement to its right. To the left are two 20th-century windows. The first floor contains tripartite casements with Gothick leading on either side of a blind window, all with segmental heads. The left return is 3-storey, with a central door with segmental head and one segmental-headed casement to its right on each floor. To the left are two segmental-headed casements on each floor.

The rear garden front is rendered in yellow brick as a 2-storey elevation with five windows, all with segmental heads. A central glazed door with segmental head is flanked by two 6-pane sashes on the ground floor, which has projecting brick quoins. A plat band marks the first floor, where five 12-pane sashes are located. A moulded wooden cornice runs along the top. Wings to the left and right feature French windows and 9-pane sashes (left wing) and French windows and sashes with segmental heads (right wing). Lead downspouts serve the front and rear elevations.

The interior was recorded by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. The front entrance hall contains an early 18th-century plaster cornice. The south ground-floor drawing room retains original joinery and a marble fireplace with fluted surround and paterae. The staircase dates to the early 19th century and features turned newels. The stair hall is lit from above by a glass dome mounted on a fluted drum. The main drawing and ante-room on the first floor overlook the garden to the south and contain good plaster work and a marble fireplace of circa 1820 with reeded surround, paterae, and a central panel above carved with a fruit basket. The north side contains fittings of circa 1740, including a corniced ceiling, an eared surround to the fireplace, and doors with fielded panels.

The property belonged to the Jervoise family from 1542. Richard Jervoise added the north wing and a vaulted ground-floor wine cellar around 1740. In 1766 Tristram Jervoise added the brick front façade with battlement bays and Gothick detail. Around 1820 George Jervoise added the south range and encased the sides in matching yellow brick. The large moat surrounding the house may represent 18th-century remodelling of an earlier moat.