Dixton Manor

Dixton Manor is a substantial manor house founded in 1555 by John Higford, as confirmed by a datestone on the porch. The building has undergone successive phases of alteration and extension: modifications in the 16th century, further changes in the early 18th century, and significant expansion in the early 19th century by the Gist family.

The main structure is built in coursed squared and dressed limestone with dressed stone quoins and a stone slate roof. An early 19th-century extension to the rear is constructed in red brick with a concrete tile roof. The building comprises a rectangular late 16th-century main body with fragments of a mid-16th-century range at the north-east corner (largely demolished in the early 19th century), and further extensions dating from the 16th and 19th centuries extending from the south-east corner at right angles. The house rises to two storeys with an attic and cellar.

The entrance front is dominated by a projecting three-storey porch. The lower two storeys date to the mid-16th century, while the upper storey is late 16th-century. The entrance archway itself is a moulded four-centred arch with moulded imposts, jewelled stops, panelled spandrels, a stopped hood, and continuous dripmould. Above the entrance sits the rectangular datestone incised with "JOANES / HVUGGEFORD / ANO. DOMINI.. 1555..". Within the porch are bench seats and an early studded plank door with strap hinges, set within a smaller four-centred arch. The return walls of the porch feature squat two-light ovolo-moulded windows with diamond-leaded panes and continuous dripmould.

The entrance front displays an early 18th-century sash window with wide glazing bars and ovolo-moulded surround to the first floor above the entrance. The return walls have ovolo-moulded stone-mullioned casements. The top floor windows are ovolo-moulded two-light stone-mullioned casements, painted to imitate windows with glazing bars. A 19th-century lean-to extension projects to the left of the porch. To the right of the porch are paired 18th-century sashes on the ground floor within an ovolo-moulded surround, with similar paired early 18th-century sashes above featuring a king mullion and continuous dripmould. A partially blocked window contains a fixed twelve-pane window, and a three-light ovolo-moulded stone-mullioned casement with stopped hood lights the gable.

The north-west front of the late 16th-century range has four gables. A two-storey 19th-century four-light canted bay is positioned off-centre to the left, lit by eighteen-pane sashes, with a parapet and two finials above. A paired 18th-century sash sits to the left, while a large two-light stone-mullioned casement with 19th-century sash windows far right features a stopped hood interrupting an otherwise nearly continuous hoodmould. Two paired 18th-century sash windows and two single 18th-century sash windows are surmounted by a continuous hoodmould. Each gable is lit by three three-light ovolo-moulded stone-mullioned casements with stopped hoods. A glass door with glazing bars set within a four-centred arched surround stands to the right of the canted bay.

The rear elevation, now largely obscured by a 19th-century extension, originally featured three gables. The extension is lit by three-light moulded stone-mullioned casements with stopped hoods and leaded panes. The south-facing gable end of the late 16th-century range displays paired 19th-century sashes on the ground floor, an eighteen-pane sash above, and a three-light ovolo-moulded stone-mullioned casement with transom and stopped hood to the attic. A 19th-century extension to the right features a four-light canted bay, with fenestration otherwise consisting mostly of forty-pane sashes and double glass doors with glazing bars. A cross-gabled turret far right is lit by single-light casements with leaded panes, with a gable end of the service wing breaking forward to the right.

A large projecting stack, now incorporated into the 19th-century extension to the late 16th-century range, displays eight diagonal shafts. Further formerly projecting axial stacks remain. Gables are topped with moulded coping and finials. Stacks dating to the 19th and 20th centuries are of red brick.

The interior retains significant historical features. An Elizabethan dog-leg staircase with turned balusters and partly turned newels ascends through the house. A tall 16th-century round-headed arch with keystone, imposts, panelled spandrels, and fleur-de-lys stops leads into the entrance hall via a short diagonal passage lined with 17th-century panelling. The Drawing Room is lined with early Georgian fielded panelling and contains a white marble fireplace. A Regency mirror decorated with signs of the zodiac was formerly positioned above this fireplace but has since been removed. A fine 16th-century Tudor-arched stone fireplace, moved from its original location, features an entablature with a frieze decorated with a band of guilloches, each enclosing a single open flower. The Library contains Regency bookcases with reeded decoration and fleurons. Several upstairs rooms retain early Georgian fielded panelling.