Harleyford Manor

Harleyford Manor is a villa dated 1755, as indicated by the initials "WCM" on the rainwater heads. It was built by Sir Robert Taylor for Sir William Clayton. The building is constructed of red brick with stone band courses, and underwent a thorough structural overhaul and restoration in 1985. The roof is slated, hipped, with brick chimneys. The house has a compact double pile plan with full-height projecting bays – the southern bay is semi-elliptical, the eastern bay canted, and the northern bay rectangular with a pediment. It is arranged over a basement, lower ground floor, piano nobile (main floor), bedroom floor, and attic.

The west front has four bays, while the other fronts contain single bays flanking three-bay projections. Window openings feature gauged brick heads and are intended to have replacement sash windows with octagonal glazing, reflecting the original design. Flat-roofed attic dormers are present. The lower ground floor has central entrances on both the north and south sides, framed by vermiculated stone surrounds. The north front also includes an upper ground floor entry reached by double return flights of stone steps with wrought iron railings. An arcaded loggia, three bays wide, extends across the upper ground floor, featuring a stone impost band and gauged brick arches. The central arch contains double half-glazed doors and an ornamental iron fanlight; flanking arches have 19th-century glazing and stone balustrades. A bullseye window sits in the pediment. The canted bay on the east front was raised in the 19th century and has a stone balustraded parapet. The south front has full-height openings to the upper ground floor of the projecting bay, with simple wrought iron railings to the balcony.

The interior features a groin-vaulted entrance loggia supported on scroll brackets, with plaster foliage bosses and plaster lunettes depicting low reliefs of mythological figures. Beyond lies a three-bay inner vestibule with a central dome and octagonal coffering to barrel vaults and terminal apses. A smaller, three-bay domed vestibule leads to the former dining room via arched niches. A 19th-century staircase descends to the lower ground floor, with reeded metal balustrades, while the main staircase has Chinese-style wooden lattice balustrades, shaped tread ends, a soffit, and a later Greek fret string. A panelled vault over the main staircase is embellished with elaborate Rococo scrolls connecting ribs to the cornice. An arcaded upper landing boasts groin vaults. Doors are largely octagonal wooden panels, some of which are to be replaced, with entrance doors having reveals with similar flush panels. 19th-century painted inscriptions are present. The library retains large and small arched recesses, a plaster dado, string, and cornice, and an altered fireplace with a Rococo plaster overmantel. Much of the interior decoration was removed in 1955 for restoration, including elaborate plaster drops that formerly adorned the drawing room on the south front, illustrating themes of music, painting, hunting, and gardening; it may be necessary to replace these originals with copies made from moulds.