Tidwell Manor

TIDWELL MANOR

A large house of medieval manor origins, completely rebuilt probably on a new site in 1725, as confirmed by dated rainwater heads. The building is constructed in Flemish bond brick with brick chimney stacks retaining original chimney shafts and 19th-century chimney pots, under a slate roof. Late 19th-century service outshots extend to the rear.

The house follows a tall double-depth plan with parallel roofs facing south-east. The interior is organised with a large central entrance hall flanked by rooms on either side, and behind it a large central stairwell. The rear end rooms are notably larger than the front ones. Front and back rooms have end chimney stacks, while the entrance lobby has axial stacks at each end, with the left stack serving fireplaces on the upper floors. The right rear room functioned as the kitchen, connected to the front room via a service corridor and stair. The main block rises three storeys with a basement beneath.

The front elevation presents a symmetrical 1:3:1 window arrangement. The ground and first floors have 19th-century 12-pane sashes, while the second floor retains contemporary 9-pane (3/6) sashes. All windows are topped with flat skewback arches of gauged rubbed brick, and most retain moulded limestone sills. A large central doorway, set atop a flight of limestone steps, features an original timber frame with broad bead-moulded surround and probably applied architrave. The overlight has glazing bars. The door itself and its flat hood on shaped brackets date to the 19th century. The central three-window section projects very slightly forward. Brick imitation quoins mark the corners of this section and the end corners, with a plat band at eaves level and above it a parapet with limestone coping. The parallel roofs have hipped ends, and the chimney shafts are enriched with stringcourses a short distance below their soffit-moulded copings. Lead rainwater heads dated 1725 with shaped tops enriched with foliage are positioned at either end.

The left (south-west facing) end wall features a two-window front between the stacks and a third window at ground floor left, built in the same style. It contains 19th-century 18-pane sashes at ground floor and 12-pane sashes above, with those on the second floor larger than those on the first. The basement here has two windows and a doorway at the right end beneath a low segmental arch.

The right (north-eastern) end wall has a stepped two-window front between the stacks, possibly with original 18th-century 18-pane sashes with broad glazing bars on the ground and first floors, and replacement 12-pane sashes on the second floor. A secondary doorway at ground floor left (towards the front) may also be original.

The rear elevation displays a symmetrical five-window front with ground floor 12-pane sashes, first floor 18-pane sashes (some possibly original with broad glazing bars), and second floor probably 20th-century replacement horned 12-pane sashes. The central first floor window is a large round-headed stair window with a rubbed brick arch, soffit-moulded imosts and shaped key. It is fixed pane with radial glazing bars at the top. A 20th-century cast iron fire escape runs down the right end.

The interior contains significant original detail, particularly on the ground floor. Both front end rooms are lined with original panelling in two heights, and the left room has a box cornice with dentil frieze. All chimeypieces have been replaced. The most remarkable feature is a fine piece of early 17th-century carved oak on the chimney breast in the entrance hall, comprising the arms of the Arscott family on a panel within a round-headed arch enriched with acanthus leaves, flanked by Caryatids holding cartouches containing human heads. This was presumably salvaged from a chimeypiece in the earlier manor house. The entrance hall ceiling is original, with bolection-moulded ribs.

The stairwell contains the original open-well stair rising in three broad flights. It is open-string with shaped brackets, square newel posts, and three balusters per tread (the centre one twisted, the others turned, all with blocks). It has a moulded flat handrail and is lined with fielded panel wainscotting. The ceiling above is a fine example of period ornamental plasterwork, with a coved cornice enriched as a frieze of acanthus leaves. The ceiling features geometric panels defined by bolection ribs around a central quatrefoil-shaped panel and a moulded plaster griffin-like creature sejant. The service stair is more old-fashioned in style, a tight dogleg stair with closed string, square newel posts, turned balusters, and moulded flat handrail. Some rooms retain original plaster cornices and the cellar has a brick barrel vault. Some joinery detail remains original, though most was renewed in the 19th century.

Tidwell Manor is attractively sited in a valley setting with contemporary stables alongside. Its considerable height is typical of a grand house of this period. The site of the original manor is thought to lie on the other side of the road from the present house. In 1448 Tidwell was granted licence for a chapel. It was the house of the Seyntclere family in the 16th century and the Arscot family from 1620 onwards.