Lyneham House

Lyneham House is a country house set in landscaped grounds, built between 1699 and 1703 for Courtney Crocker. The structure incorporates reused materials from the 16th century in its basement. It is constructed of granite ashlar with rusticated granite quoins and a band at the first-floor level. The house features a slate hipped roof with a large wooden modillion eaves cornice and a wooden balustrade above. The plan is nearly square and double depth, consisting of two storeys, a basement, and an attic, with a layout of three bays, one bay, and three bays. The central bay projects forward and includes a doorway flanked by granite half columns that support an open segmental pediment. The east and west sides have five bays each without a central break but feature a similar doorway on the east side. The rear elevation has seven bays and includes glazed and panelled double doors, sash windows with glazing bars and straight heads with keystones, and flat roof dormers with cornices and sashes. Lead rainwater heads dated 1768 are present, along with two large granite chimney stacks that are symmetrically placed and feature quoins and plain caps. The stone rubble basement contains 16th-century two-light windows set in recessed and chamfered granite frames, as well as a moulded elliptically arched doorway with carved spandrels, likely from an earlier house on the site. The interior was not accessible during the 1983 survey, but it is reported to have been recently restored, with original plaster cornices, bolection moulded panelling, and joinery largely intact, including two staircases, the principal one featuring two balusters per tread. The drawing room is said to have a chimneypiece from around 1770, while the dining room is noted for its carved panelling and chimneypiece. Lyneham was the seat of the old Devon family of Crocker. A drawing by Edmund Prideaux from around 1716, which is now at Prideaux Place in Cornwall, depicts formal gardens in front of the house along with flanking pavilions and an orangery.