Lyveden Old Bield And Attached Outbuildings

Lyveden Old Bield and Attached Outbuildings

Also known as Lyveden Manor, this is a late 16th-century manor house built for the Tresham family, with early 20th-century alterations. The building is constructed in limestone ashlar with Collyweston and Welsh slate roofs.

The house is planned as an L-shape and represents what was originally part of a larger house with an open courtyard. It comprises two storeys with an attic.

The main front faces west and is a three-window range with a gable to the left. Large six-light ovolo-moulded stone-mullion windows with king mullions are positioned on the ground and first floors to the left, with one transom to the ground floor window and two transoms to the first floor hall window. The lights to the far left and right are now blocked internally. To the right is a similar three-light window with transoms, and a 20th-century two-light first floor window to the centre. A three-light stone-mullion attic window sits in the gable. The window to the ground floor right was originally a doorway. A moulded string course runs above the window heads. The plinth is chamfered, and ashlar gable parapets and kneelers are present. A central ashlar stack with square flues linked by arches below an entablature rises from the main front.

An outbuilding stands at right angles to the right of the main front, linked to the main house by a 20th-century porch. This outbuilding has ashlar gable parapets and a three-light stone-mullion window in its rear wall.

The elevation to the left of the main front is a two-window range of large three-light cavetto-moulded stone-mullion windows with transoms. A central plank door has a moulded stone surround with a four-centred arch head. A building attached to the left has a lower eaves level. Its gable end to the left features three-light stone-mullion windows with arch-head lights to ground and first floor. The gable end to the right of the main front has a three-light stone-mullion window with transom to first floor and a similar three-light attic window.

The rear elevation of the main front comprises two bays with a one-window range. A two-light stone-mullion window with transom is positioned to the first floor right, and a doorway below is now a two-light window. A large lateral stack to the left has similar flues to those on the main front.

The elevation of the return wall to the right consists of two bays. Large three-light stone-mullion windows occupy the ground and first floors to the left, with one transom to the ground floor window and two transoms to the first floor hall window. The bay to the right is a two-window range of three-light stone-mullion windows at the landing levels of a former staircase hall. Gabled eaves dormers sit above this bay. A moulded string course between the floors rises over one staircase window head. A plank door with chamfered stone surround and four-centred arch head is positioned to the right. A large ashlar stack, similar to that at the main front, rises from the valley. An ashlar gable parapet to the right has a moulded finial. A building attached to the right has lower eaves and 20th-century openings, with an ashlar gable parapet bearing a square finial. A billeted moulded panel is positioned below the attic window.

The interior includes a drawing room with a moulded wood cornice, probably reset. Ground and first floor doorways to the former staircase hall have moulded stone surrounds and four-centred arch heads. Similar chamfered surrounds occur to other door openings, some now covered. The hearth of a fireplace to the first floor hall remains. The interior was subdivided in the early 20th century and the staircase was removed to America. An archway to the courtyard, commissioned by Sir Lewis Tresham, is now at Fermyn Woods Hall, Brigstock.

Lyveden Old Bield was owned by the Tresham family from the mid 15th century.