Oxenham Manor Including Front Garden Walls To North And Rear Courtyard Walls To South

Oxenham Manor is a small country house, likely built around 1714 and extensively refurbished in the mid-20th century. The house is probably built with stone rubble walls, possibly incorporating some cob, and has stone rubble stacks. The 1714 stacks feature granite ashlar chimneyshafts that begin at the roofline as divided shafts, join near the top, and have moulded granite coping. The roof is covered in slate.

The original plan was for a double-depth house facing north, seemingly with three rooms at the front and back. The outer rooms are heated by gable-end stacks, with a central, rear, lateral stack. A recessed entrance lobby with a rear staircase is situated to the left (west) of the center of the front. The rear courtyard walls incorporate elements of an earlier house. The present house appears to be the result of a 1714 rebuilding and consists of two storeys with a single-storey extension on the right (east) end.

The front of the house has a regular, though not symmetrical, six-window façade with 19th-century and replacement 20th-century 12-pane sash windows. The two front doors both have 20th-century doors; the main entrance is to the left of the center. The main roof is gable-ended, adorned with the described chimneyshafts. A single window is located in the flat-roofed extension on the right side. The rear is less regular and includes 20th-century casements with glazing bars, along with a presumably reset 16th or 17th-century granite two-centred arch with a moulded surround, located to the left of the center.

Limited internal inspection revealed extensive mid-20th-century refurbishment. The front right-end room has exposed crossbeams, joists, and a plain granite fireplace with an unchamfered oak lintel (lacking its original chimneypiece). The entrance hall, however, remains original and is lined with two-height bolection-moulded panelling, including a moulded dado. The rear features a 1714 dogleg staircase with square newel posts, a moulded flat handrail, and turned vase-like balusters.

A high granite rubble wall encloses the rear (southern) courtyard, appearing to be part of an earlier structure, as evidenced by window and doorway embrasures and a curving newel stair recess. In front (north) of the wall, a large fireplace alcove has been converted to a seat, and massive granite grindstones from the former cider house are situated nearby. The front (north) garden is enclosed by granite rubble walls. On the west side, the wall ramps down to a lower level, incorporating gate posts made of monolithic granite with moulded edges, faceted caps and curving bracket-like decoration similar to the gate posts dated 1714. The Oxenham family lived at the manor from the 13th to the 19th centuries.