Timber Framed House Attached To North Side Of Manor House

This is a timber-framed house attached to the north side of the Manor House in Ashby St. Ledgers. It dates from the 17th century and was originally from Cow Street, Ipswich. The house was re-erected in 1903 under the supervision of Sir Edwin Lutyens. It features close studding and some diagonal braces, with a tile roof and brick stacks. The building is in an L-plan shape and is situated on sloping ground, with a stone basement added to the north side and two right bays.

The house has two storeys and an attic, comprising four bays with an oversailing upper floor. The central doorway has a moulded wood frame with a 4-centred arch, and the spandrels are carved with foliage. Above the door is a rectangular panel carved with a pediment framed by draperies and foliage. To the left are two wood mullioned and transomed windows, each with two lights and four small arched lights above the transom. To the right are two mullioned and transomed bay windows, also featuring small arched lights in the head. The first floor has 3-light windows with moulded wood mullions and transoms in the left bay and the second bay from the right, while other first-floor windows are similar but consist of two lights. There is a pilaster and bracket on the right angle, carved with blind tracery and quatrefoils.

At the rear, there is a projecting wing from the 17th century, made of similar materials, which has two storeys and a basement with two bays. The house was exhibited at White City as a notable example of half-timber construction and was purchased by Lord Wimbourne, despite Lutyens' protests regarding its re-erection at Ashby St. Ledgers.

Inside, there are several corbelled stone fireplaces of varied designs. The first-floor hall features a hammerbeam roof with traceried spandrels, which has been considerably renewed. The principal room on the ground floor, facing the garden, has a framed ceiling, a Renaissance medallion panelled cornice, and a large fireplace with terns and a heraldic device on the overmantel panel, flanked by caryatids.