The Old Hall

The Old Hall is a house located in Chawleigh, formerly serving as the rectory. Built probably in the early-to-mid 16th century, it has undergone substantial modifications in the 17th century and late 18th century, with further extensions dating from the late 19th century and around 1930.

The main structure comprises a plastered cob building on rubble footings, with extensions of plastered rubble. The chimneys are of stone rubble topped with 19th-century brick, and the roof is covered in slate. The building rises to two storeys and presents an irregular front elevation. The original plan derives from a three-room-and-through-passage arrangement, with an inner room at the north-west end featuring a projecting end stack and a hall with a rear lateral stack. In the late 18th century, the service end was replaced and remodelled by a two-room crosswing projecting both front and back, with the front room heated by a projecting outer lateral stack and an end stack to the first floor, and the rear room by an inner lateral stack. A probable 19th-century one-room block projects at right angles to the front of the upper end of the hall, with a slightly projecting end stack. A probable 17th-century two-storey porch stands to the front of the passage, with circa 1930 extensions to the rear.

The front elevation features a large full-height timber five-light window between the hall extension and porch, with two sets of transoms, probably dating from the 19th century but built in late 17th-to-early 18th-century style, with flat-faced mullions and internal bead mouldings. This window contains leaded panes arranged in geometric patterns. The inner room end has a single late 19th-to-early 20th-century window with glazing bars on each floor, while the hall extension has contemporary casements on either side. The lower end crosswing displays a late 19th-to-early 20th-century casement under a segmental arch at ground floor level, with a smaller version to the first floor of the porch. To the right of the porch is a small 16th-or 17th-century oak lancet window with a low triangular head containing small leaded panes matching the style of the hall window. The outer south-east front of the crosswing has an irregular four-window front of various late 19th-to-early 20th-century casements with glazing bars and a contemporary canted bay window containing large-pane horned sashes at the rear end. The roof is hipped to the rear, with circa 1930 casements serving the rear elevations.

Internally, the building retains a remarkable early-to-mid 16th-century open hall extending from ground to roof. Between the passage and hall stands a fine mid-16th-century oak plank-and-muntin screen, in which the muntins are richly moulded on both sides, featuring a superior double ogee on the hall side. The mouldings descend into the floor except for a small section in the passage where the floor is lower, revealing unusual projecting moulded bases. A gallery jettied into the lower side of the hall features a late 18th-century balustrade but a mid-16th-century bressummer. This oak beam of large scantling has very deep moulding on each side of the soffit, consisting of a series of hollow chamfers and roll mouldings, with the bottom large roll carved as a wreath of ribbon and beads. A 16th-century oak flat-arched doorframe containing an old plank door leads from the front wall to the newel stair, with another smaller oak frame providing access to the gallery.

The hall fireplace is now blocked by a massive 19th-century chimney piece. The roof is three-bayed and restored but essentially original. The trusses appear to be A-frames but may be jointed crucks, each featuring chamfered arch bracing that creates a continuous curve from wall to wall except for a small nick at the apex, giving the impression of an ogee arch. Each bay contains a single set of windbraces. In the inner room, the fireplace is blocked by a 19th-century grate, and both soffit-chamfered crossbeams have pyramid stops, probably dating from the 16th century. The roof here is inaccessible. The passage side has a small 16th-century oak flat-arched doorway, and the wide passage itself contains 18th-century stairs with slender turned balusters. The rear room of the service end crosswing has a plain-chamfered crossbeam, possibly older than other late 19th-century features exposed in the crosswing. Other interior features are of 19th and 20th-century date, though earlier features may be hidden within the main block.

The significance of The Old Hall lies in the survival of the late medieval open hall beneath its original roof, with substantial 16th-century work of good craftsmanship remaining exposed. Original plaster may survive, and care should be taken during any alterations to the 16th-century fabric to determine whether 16th-century mural paintings remain hidden.