The Old Grange

THE OLD GRANGE

A large house at Dymock, off Leominster Road, comprising work from the mid-17th century, early 18th century, 19th century, and 1896. The building displays an L-shaped plan with a three-bay front and six-bay side elevation. It is generally two storeys with some attics, and two rooms deep at the front.

The entrance front is constructed in various brick bonds with brick-nogged timber-framed gables and one roughly squared stone section. The roof combines tiled covering to the rear and stone slate to the front. Nearly all windows throughout are mullion and transom lights.

The entrance front features the oldest part on the left, marked by a blank section with a vertical joint. A late 19th-century timber-framed porch with brick-nogged base has an open doorway with close-studding above, covering a studded boarded two-leaf door with a rectangular stained-glass fanlight. To the right is a three-light window with a rubbed brick arch and leaded lights with upper stained glass. A further change in brickwork marks a tall four-light window. The first floor has two two-light windows, with a three-light set higher on the right. A mid-17th-century gable on the left features a two-pane sash that cuts the tie beam, with two collars and V-struts above. To the right are two blank gables with weatherboard to tie beam, collar and V-struts to the centre, and two collars to the right.

Chimneys include one in the left valley at a slight angle with two diamond-set flues and a corbelled head. Similar chimneys appear to the right rear and a single-flue chimney on the right return.

The left return comprises front two bays in brick. The ground floor has three-light and four-light windows, with two three-light windows above, with traces of possibly rendered surrounds. A three-light casement sits in a gabled dormer to the left. A shallow canted section follows to the left, with brick right splay. Three-light windows with iron opening lights occupy each floor, with timber lintels displaying dummy V-jointed voussoirs and a fleur-de-lys on the keystone. A cogged oversailing course and shallow parapet sit above; a similar dormer occurs behind.

A blank stone section to the left has a plain plinth and moulded string course, finished with brick crenellations. The left splay combines mixed brick and stone, with windows matching the other splay but without a lintel to the ground floor. The first floor has plain timber with a plaster fleur-de-lys in the centre. A plain brick string runs at first-floor level on the flat section, with two further strings above the upper window and brick crenellations above. A gable to the main roof on the left has a chimney with six flues. Another chimney with four flues sits at the right side of the splayed section.

To the left, a single bay has ground floor work in late brick with a three-light window and iron opening light below a heavy timber lintel. An Ionic column stands on the corner to the left. The first floor has a three-light window, cogged oversailing course, and brick balustrade. Set back on the left are two further bays with two two-light windows on each floor. Elliptical brick arches occur at ground floor level with no lintels to the first floor and a plain brick string course between floors. A brick balustrade and tiled roof complete this section.

Interior features include an entrance hall with fielded dado panelling and a bolection-moulded fireplace surround with scrolls either side of a cupboard door and six-panel doors. The stairs, possibly reset, have a turned newel and balusters, moulded handrail and string. A room to the right has dado panelling, panelled shutters, and a heavy moulded ceiling beam. The first floor left front room has scratch plaster moulding adjoining ceiling beams, with two scratch-moulded doors to the rear. A third room back on the left has ovolo moulding with V-grooves above and below the ceiling beams, and bolection-moulded panelling on the centre part of the canted section. One room features a cambered timber lintel with roll moulding and V-groove over. A room on the right has tiles in the fireplace surround with hunting scenes in sepia. The left section at front has two pairs of purlins and a square ridge.

The building stands on the site of an earlier house. The three-bay section on the left of the entrance is mid-17th century; the enlarged section to the right and behind is 18th century; the right section of the front and the two right gables are part of an 1896 enlargement. The building forms a group with an adjacent barn.