Mearsdon Manor

Mearsdon Manor is a house now in use as a tea room and shop, with private accommodation on the first floor and at the rear. It is probably dated to the late 15th or early 16th century, with alterations made later in the 16th and early 17th centuries, remodelled around the mid 19th century, and extended around the early 20th century.

The building is constructed of roughcast granite rubble with a gable-ended roof of interlocking clay tiles, crested ridge tiles and projecting eaves. It features axial ridge stacks; the left-hand former higher end stack has a rendered brick shaft, while the right-hand lower room stack is granite with a tapered cap. A large granite ashlar lateral hall stack projects to the right of centre with a chamfered plinth, moulded cornice and tapered shaft.

The original plan consisted of three rooms and a through-passage, originally open to the roof over the hall and higher end, which were divided by low screens. It was probably also open to the roof at the lower end, though only one surviving original truss remains, situated over the higher end of the hall. The inner room was floored later in the 16th century, creating a first floor chamber, and the lower end was likely floored at the same time. The hall was floored probably in the early 17th century when the front lateral hall stack was built; the lower room stack with an oven may also have been inserted at this time in the unusual position at the higher end of the lower room, backing onto the passage. The stack at the higher end was probably built when the chamber over the inner room was created. Later in the 17th century the house was extended at the higher end, where in the 19th century a carriageway was put through. Around the mid 19th century the front was entirely refenestrated, and around the early 20th century an extension containing a staircase at the back of the lower end and a large rear extension were built.

The building is two storeys high and presents a long, asymmetrical 6-window range. The fenestration consists of 19th-century 12-pane sashes without horns, except for the first floor left which has horns. The ground floor right has a 12-pane fixed-light window. The extension to the left has a 2-light casement at mid-floor level and a carriageway through with a timber door-frame and concealed lintel. A 19th-century panelled and glazed door stands to the left of centre with a canopy on shaped brackets. Over the central former hall window there is a granite hoodmould. To the right of the lateral hall stack is the passage doorway with a massive timber door-frame featuring carpenter's mitres and hollow and ovolo moulding; the base of one jamb is replaced and the other is very worn. An old nail-studded plank door, cross-planked on the inner side, has wrought iron hinges. The early 20th-century rear extension is an almost detached 2-storey building of granite rubble.

The original roof truss is only visible above collar level, with the apex and collar morticed. There are holes for a threaded ridge-piece and for the purlins. The truss is smoke-blackened on both sides, and on the lower west side there is smoke-blackened plaster. Apart from this truss and a later clean truss with trenched purlins over the extension at the higher end, the roof has been entirely replaced at higher level with soft wood king-post trusses.

The interior retains many high-quality features. The plank and muntin screen between hall and passage has chamfered muntins on the hall side with pyramid stops; ovolo moulded muntins and rail with carpenter's mitres on the passage side with worn oval-shaped stops. The head beam is moulded on the passage side with ovolo and hollow mouldings, and square section on the hall side, with a widened doorway opening to the hall. The screen between inner room and hall is replaced or covered with early 17th-century panelling with a projecting frieze below the head beam which possibly conceals an internal jetty; the old sole plate survives at the base of the screen. The head beam and main cross beam are deeply chamfered with hollow step stops. There is another cross-beam, roughly chamfered and without stops, at the lower end of the hall near the screen. The lateral hall fireplace features chamfered granite monolithic jambs now without stops and a massive granite lintel concealed behind a 20th-century board. The inner room fireplace is blocked. A longitudinal beam is deeply chamfered and has stops in the inner room.

Backing onto the lower side of the passage is a stack with a granite ashlar back with chamfered plinth and cornice; the fireplace has chamfered monolithic granite jambs, and if there were stops they have been worn off. The ovolo-moulded wooden lintel has chamfered mason's mitres to the jambs, suggesting that if the lintel is a later replacement it was made especially for this fireplace. An oven with a segmental granite arch doorway and granite lining is present. The doorway to the passage has a heavy ovolo-moulded frame with carpenter's mitres and rather worn urn-shaped stops. The longitudinal beam in the lower room is roughly chamfered and without stops. A blocked doorway is visible in the rear wall of the lower room. The first floor rooms have been enlarged and remodelled in the mid 19th century when the roof was heightened. Early 20th-century stairs are located in a large stair well at the rear of the lower end and passage.

According to local tradition, this is the site of the Saxon Barton of around 700 AD. Sir Philip Courtenay came into the possession of Moreton in 1309 and enlarged and improved the Barton to become his manor house. Mearsdon Manor remains a substantial late medieval house which, despite 19th-century remodelling, retains many high-quality interior features. Externally, the large lateral stack and the old doorway, together with the complete 19th-century fenestration, form an important feature in Cross Street.