The Pigeon House

The Pigeon House is a former manor house, likely originating in the medieval period, with significant extensions from the 16th and 18th centuries. It was altered around 1924 by T.E. Whitaker. The building is constructed of close-studded timber framing with herringbone limestone block infill, random squared and dressed limestone, and has a stone slate roof with ashlar and 20th-century artificial stone stacks.

The building's plan is complex, incorporating an 'L'-shaped medieval range that probably began as a hall with a two-story solar wing to its south, and further extensions to the east. A rectangular, partly timber-framed range was added to the west of the solar in the 16th century.

The south-facing elevation of the timber-framed range has a 20th-century central porch with a plank door featuring decorative studding and a 4-centred arched surround with a moulded hood including heraldic stops and the inscriptions 'A.D./ABOUT/1066' and 'Restored/1924/T.E.W'. The porch has enriched spandrels and brattished decoration at the top of its portal. A small single-light window is to the left, and a three-light stone-mullioned casement sits above. An image niche with a canopy is near the gable’s apex. Bow windows connect the porch return walls to the main body of the building, with another bow window to the rear featuring an early seven-light, flat-chamfered wood-mullioned window with a transom. The main body of the building features stone-mullioned windows with leaded panes and enriched spandrels. Several 20th-century three-, five- and seven-light oriel windows, some with transoms and decorative leaded panes, are set into the north, south, and west sides of the first floor. A single 20th-century, three-light canted eaves dormer with a decorative barge board is positioned on the upper right.

An earlier range is set back to the right, having a single-light and two-light stone-mullioned casement to the ground floor and a four-light stone-mullioned casement with Tudor-arched lights on the first floor. A 20th-century part-glazed door is set under an open-fronted lean-to to the left. Stone-mullioned casements, some with cusped heads, are present on the other elevation, dating back to the 19th century. A small turret with a battlemented parapet and an early, possibly reused, pointed-arched entrance sits in the angle between the main body and a later extension.

The interior includes a flagged entrance hall with a large open fireplace, a bressumer beam, and probably reused 17th-century panelling. A Tudor-arched stone fireplace, dating from the 1924 alterations, is in an adjoining room. Another open-fireplace, with a bressumer beam, appears in the eastern limb, accessible via a possibly reused pointed-arched entrance, and contains an early wooden spiral staircase with square-sectioned treads. A niche contains a reused 12th-century jamb shaft with chevron decoration and a piece of roll-moulded stonework. The roof of the early range features curving principals with a yoke at the apex, single purlins, and wind bracing. Stained glass insets dating from the early 20th century bear the signature “Reg Constance, Glazier 1924”.