Bisterne Manor House

Bisterne Manor House is a manor house that possibly dates from the late 15th century to the early 16th century, with remodels in the late 16th century, mid to late 17th century, and early to mid 19th century. It underwent restoration in the mid 20th century. The building is constructed of brick and stone with a rendered finish that features incised masonry lines, stone quotas, and a slate roof.

The main west front, which faces the road, has a rectangular plan, while the remainder of the structure is irregular. A 16th-century window on the far wall of the west front indicates the location of an original central courtyard. The main front has two storeys above a raised basement, with five recessed centre bays and gabled projecting wings. It features a moulded plinth, and the flanking wings have gable walls with outer slopes resting on kneelers and inner slopes beginning a parapet around the front.

A projecting porch, which is 1½ storeys high, is located below the main front and has ramped stone steps that run parallel to the front. The left-hand porch is from the 16th century and provided access to a screens passage; it displays the Compton arms over the door. The right-hand porch has the date 1652 and the Berkeley arms. Both doorways are arched openings with stone columns, and above them are parapets featuring carved recumbent hounds.

The wings have two-mullion transomed windows, and there are two-light windows on the front side of the porches. The central part of the building has a three-light mullioned transomed window, with two-mullioned transom windows on either side. A moulded string course runs along the first floor, which has similar windows and two-light lower set windows over the porches at the end bays. Pineapple ornaments are built into the wall above each window in the low parapet, which has moulded coping.

At the rear, there are large rendered stacks located behind the ridge in the centre and at each end of the wings. Inside, beneath the front range, there is a large rib-vaulted undercroft from the late 16th century, possibly remodelled from an earlier structure. Behind the right-hand porch, there is a heavy staircase from the late 17th century. In the left-hand wing, at the far corner, there is a huge 16th-century fireplace from the former kitchen, alongside an early 17th-century staircase. For further details about the interior, refer to Country Life from 1955 and Buildings of England: Hampshire by Pevsner.