Willersey Manor

Willersey Manor is a manor house dating from the 14th to 17th centuries, with an 18th-century wing, a 19th-century outshut, and a 20th-century porch. The earliest part, constructed between the 14th and 17th centuries, is built of coursed squared limestone; the 17th-century outshut of coursed, squared, and dressed limestone. The 18th-century wing and 20th-century porch are of coursed, squared, and dressed limestone, with an ashlar facade on the opposite side from the garden front. A twin ashlar stack rises from the ridge of the 14th- to 17th-century main body, near the junction with the 18th-century wing, which also has ashlar gable end stacks and a stack off-centre to the right. The plan consists of a 14th- to 17th-century block running forward to the right, with an 18th-century extension attached to the left. A 20th-century entrance porch is located to the right of the 14th- to 17th-century block, in the angle created with the 18th-century wing. A 17th-century outshut is situated to the right of the 14th- to 17th-century main body towards the rear, with 19th-century outshuts to the rear of the same.

The main body of the house is two storeys and an attic, lit by 20th-century gabled dormers along the right wall, and a single garret window with ogee cusping in the gable end. A single, 3-light, hollow chamfered stone mullioned window is located below this with a 20th-century patio door to the ground floor. Similar, 2- and 3-light windows are found in the left and right walls of the main block. A single light with a pointed head is evident in the right wall. All stone mullioned windows in the main body have leaded panes. The 18th-century wing is two storeys with a cellar under the left end and an attic lit by a single 2-light 20th-century dormer.

Inside the 14th- to 17th-century block, a room on the ground floor far to the right has deep, chamfered beams. The room above features roll-moulded beams with highly carved stops. A secret stone altar, with small incised crosses, is hidden below a window sill in the upper room. The house is reputed to have been built for the Abbot of Evesham as his summer residence, and in the 16th and 17th centuries belonged to the Roper family, who were staunch Catholics, likely explaining the secret stone altar. The property has traditional associations with the Elizabethan composer, William Byrd.