Staunton Court

Staunton Court is a farmhouse of complex build spanning the 16th to 19th centuries, substantially restored around 1880 by F.W. Waller. It faces the church and forms an irregular 'U' plan with varied rooflines and materials reflecting its long development.

The building comprises a cross wing of 1½ storeys to the centre, a left wing of 2 storeys with single-storey extensions, and a right wing of 2½ storeys. The courtyard opens towards the church, accessed by 4 stone steps and bounded to the front by a stone wall.

The left wing and hall facing the church are constructed in English garden wall bond on a stone plinth; the left single-storey room employs English bond brickwork. The right wing stands on a stone base to the courtyard with rendered panels between timber framing (said to be backed with brickwork); above this sits brick-nogged timber framing to a lean-to wing in front. All sections are roofed in tile.

The detailed fenestration and timber work include: a four-pane window to the right and 6-pane sash to the left; above these, storey-height studs continued below 1 metre above the main horizontal timber at floor level to the eaves. A three-light mullion-and-transom window on the first floor has braces from a corner post to the main timber above, with decorative bracing above the window. A hipped roof carries a hipped dormer with 2-light casement. A large external brick chimney stands on the right return. The left return displays a boarded door to a lean-to and a 4-light mullion-and-transom window in stone on the ground floor, with timber framing above as on the end elevation featuring 2 long braces to the sill from an intermediate post and an angle brace from corner post to wallplate. A two-light mullion-and-transom window has herringbone bracing above it and a 2-light casement in a hipped dormer.

The end block includes on its right a half-glazed 20th-century lobby with flat roof against a lean-to half-glazed lobby with tiled roof and herringbone nogging to timber framing below, topped with a wide verge on brackets. To the left stands the wall of the hall with a 4-light mullion-and-transom window set beneath a cambered brick arch, and a glazed roof over an open lean-to verandah. Three hipped dormers (one on the left behind a further wing) each carry a 2-light casement. A brick stack from a large external chimney rises on the far side of the hall. The single-storey left wing has an external chimney on its right return gable. The front elevation displays paired 8-pane sashes with a timber hood over featuring 2 elongated diamonds (all of 19th-century date, as is the hall wall and lobby).

The left wing of the 'U' has slightly higher eaves and appears of 18th-century date. Its right return has a 3-light mullion-and-transom window at first floor, a boarded door accessed by one stone step from a quarter landing and a further 7 stone steps from the courtyard, and a board on timber corbels above. The wing has dentil eaves and a hipped roof. A yard wall sets out from the corner of this wing. An end wall displays a boarded door to the ground floor beneath a flat stone lintel. Set back on the left is a projecting former cider house with a boarded door on its right return beneath a flat brick-on-edge lintel. A window to the left has 2 boarded shutters and dentil eaves; a two-light window sits in the end gable.

The interior contains a hall with a large fireplace having an elliptical head and a 1670 cast-iron fireback. Ceiling beams feature small ovolo moulding to their arrises. A room on the right at the rear is panelled in 5 sections high. Beams over the front room in the right wing have wide chamfers. A hand-operated water pump with fly-wheel stands in the lean-to. The main door from the hall to the rear garden porch has ovolo and cavetto moulding to its surround. The outer porch doorway has a moulded stone jamb with capitals, a semi-circular head, a hoodmould, and a coat of arms above.

The right wing was restored by F.W. Waller. Staunton Court forms a group with the Church of St. James and associated farm buildings.