Syde Manor

Syde Manor is a large country house of complex development spanning from the late 15th or early 16th century to the 19th century. The earliest wing dates to the late 15th or early 16th century, with the majority of the building constructed in the 17th century, a late 17th-century west porch, and an 18th-century south wing.

The building is constructed of random rubble limestone with ashlar dressings, while the 18th-century wing uses coursed and squared rubble; all parts are roofed in stone slate.

The west front presents the most complex elevation. A long west-facing 17th-century range of two storeys with attic dominates, with a central two-storey porch. The porch features an ovolo-moulded doorway with plank door and a two-light ovolo-moulded mullioned window above, with small upper floor ovolo-moulded single-light windows to the porch sides and an additional chamfered single-light below to the right. To the left of the porch, scattered fenestration includes large small-paned casements with timber lintels to each floor, and a 19th-century roof dormer with barge boards. An offset buttress and gabled end of a cross-wing extends left, with single-window fenestration, a larger timber casement to the upper floor with a two-light ovolo-moulded mullioned window and flat drip stone over to the attic, and lean-to outbuildings attached below. To the right of the porch, a full gable contains single-window fenestration: a large 19th-century three-light mullioned window with hoodmould, a small single-light 19th-century window also with hood, a three-light recessed chamfered window with hood above, a two-light attic window, a blocked single-light high in the parapet gable, a blocked doorway with a blocked oval window set horizontally over it, and a two-light to the upper floor above. A central ridge-mounted ashlar chimney, partly rebuilt in yellow brick, rises through this gable.

The west gable end of the south range has an ashlar chimney with moulded cap at the parapet gable. An 18th-century upper floor sash with moulded architrave and keystone sits above a 19th-century canted bay with moulded cornice to the parapet and architraves with keystones to each window; two 19th-century sashes appear in the front face with a single sash to each side.

The south front presents a three-window two-storey facade with a central projecting single-storey 19th-century porch. The sashes have moulded architraves, stepped keystones, and bull-nosed sills. The porch has two door leaves of two fielded panels each, and two side casements, all with architraves and keystones matching the sashes. A panel dated 1908 sits centrally over the doorway with architrave, keystone, and central flower decoration; the parapet curves over this element.

The east side features a blocked window to the upper floors of the end parapet gable of the 18th-century south range, with architraves and keystone. Fenestration is generally scattered across this elevation. A chimney with moulded cap and skirt to the parapet gable stands at the back of the 18th-century range, while a central chimney gable on the elevation has a rebuilt ashlar stack with moulded cap and skirt. Two upper floor two-light recessed chamfered mullioned windows sit to the left of this chimney gable with a single three-light mullioned window below; a 19th-century roof dormer with leaded casement appears above. To the right of the chimney gable, two-window fenestration includes 19th-century roof dormers, three-light upper floor windows, and altered fenestration to the ground floor with an inserted doorway.

The north wing projects to the east with scattered fenestration. Two two-light windows with Tudor-arched heads face south. A stepped chimney stack on the east gable has a single Tudor-arched light on either side, with a single-light square-headed chamfered window above the left light. The north side of the wing has a 19th-century three-light with Tudor-arched heads and an original two-light below. The north gable end of the main range has altered fenestration and concrete steps to an upper floor doorway.

Internally, the early east wing contains a large basket-arched fireplace in a ground floor room and a single raised cruck to the roof. An open well staircase to the 18th-century house features moulded open strings, wreathed handrail terminals, and stick balusters. Fielded panelled shutters line the sash windows.

The manor demonstrates a pattern of continuous addition and modification from its origins around 1500, with each century contributing to its accumulated form.