Bradstone Manor House

Bradstone Manor House

A manor house, possibly of the late 16th century, incorporating remodelled remains of a considerably larger house contemporary with the adjacent Manor Gatehouse. The building was partly remodelled in the late 17th century and again in the late 18th century, with a rear extension added in the mid-20th century.

The house is faced in ashlar of Hurdwick stone with a moulded plinth and granite dressings. The roof is of rag slate with gabled ends. A projecting three-storey gabled porch dominates the front. Stone rubble projecting stacks rise from both gable ends; the left-hand stack is original, while the right-hand stack is partly remodelled with a brick shaft. A rear projecting lateral hall stack with set-offs is incorporated in a later outshut. The main range survives with a three-room and through-passage plan, with a rear projecting staircase wing to the north-east and a mid-20th-century outshut to the rear.

The south-west front is of two storeys with a regular five-window arrangement. The porch, positioned to the right of centre, rises to three storeys. To the left of the porch are three late 18th or early 19th-century sash windows: a 16-pane sash on the left and two 32-pane sashes on the right, all beneath dressed stone arches with exposed sash boxes and without horns. A late 19th-century French window has been inserted to the right of the first sash. To the right of the porch is a four-light granite mullion window with moulded hollow chamfered mullions and a surround comprising cavetto, fillet and ovolo moulding, surmounted by a hoodmould with square label stops.

The ground floor of the porch contains a four-centred granite arch with heavy rollmould and a cavetto moulded rectangular surround with moulded stops; the spandrels are incised and a hoodmould runs above. The inner door features a four-centred granite arch with cavetto mould and plain incised spandrels, a chamfered surround, and moulded stops. The door itself is circa 17th century, double boarded and studded.

The first floor displays three half-dormer windows to the left of the porch. To the right is a lower gabled dormer with a moulded pediment and boarded window, followed by two similar dormers with 12/8-pane sashes without horns and exposed sash boxes. To the right of the porch are mid-19th-century double 12-pane sashes, possibly occupying the opening of an earlier four-light mullion window. The first floor of the porch contains a three-light granite mullion window with chamfered mullions, surround, and hoodmould with similar label stops to those over the entrance below. Above, in the gable end, is a two-light mullion window with chamfered surround and hoodmould. A sundial is positioned directly below this window, with further remains of what may be an earlier sundial visible in front of the house, possibly from the former stables.

The rear elevation shows a four-centred granite arch, chamfered and stopped, giving access to the rear of the through passage and visible only from within the outshut. An outline of a blocked granite two-centred arch has been reset in the outshut to the right. On the first floor, above the door to the through passage, is a two-light granite mullion window with moulded granite mullions.

Interior

A wide through passage is retained in its original form. The room at the lower end, to the right of the through passage, features heavy exposed, unchamfered ceiling beams and a later fireplace. The hall to the left of the through passage contains complete reused mid-17th-century panelling, which bears several layers of later graining. Above the panelling runs an Ionic fluted pilaster scheme with a moulded cornice of circa early 18th-century date, inconsistent with the original panelling scheme. A 19th-century carved stone fireplace with a four-centred arch dominates one wall. Above it is a circa late 17th-century bolection moulded panel bearing an original oil painting on wood depicting a rustic scene. The doors are fielded and panelled, with one on the north-west featuring inlaid mouldings to the panels.

An inner room to the north-west contains fine reused mid-17th-century oak panelling. The panels are rectangular with moulded edges, separated by decorated pilasters with carved interlaced patterns on tall bases, shafts and flat carved capitals. The entablature features interlaced patterns in the frieze, interrupted by vertical cabled bands and slightly projecting decorated panels above the pilasters, with a carved cornice above. A similar moulding runs along the sides of the ceiling beams. The door to the rear on the north-east comprises reused panelling with circa 17th-century cock's head hinges. The fireplace is a circa early 18th-century Doric chimney piece, with a chamfered granite lintel, unchamfered jambs (partly covered by panelling), and a reset fielded panel above, flanked by two fluted pilasters on tall bases. The moulded entablature features a frieze decorated with bukrania and roundels between triglyphs, beneath a heavy moulded cornice. The window shutters are fielded and panelled.

The room above to the north-west has a pediment above the door. The entire room features late 17th-century bolection moulding, including a chair rail and three-panelled contemporary door. The fireplace surround is also bolection moulded, with a moulded contemporary cornice at eaves level. The plastered ceiling above has sloping sides below the principals, continuing to collar level, with bolection moulded ribs. The roof timbers extend into the adjoining room beyond, circa early to mid-18th century, comprising moderately sized principals with straight feet and lapped and pegged collars.

The room beyond the porch features a heavy 17th-century ovolo-moulded doorcase, with a plank door bearing cover moulds and strap hinges.

Historical Context

Bradstone was a Domesday manor under the name Bradestona and served as the manor house of the Cloberry family.