Church Farmhouse And Attached Walls

Church Farmhouse, formerly a rectory and manor house, dates to the early 18th century. It is constructed of ironstone ashlar with a tile roof, and features brick stacks on stone bases. The house is two storeys and an attic, with a five-window front overlooking a forecourt. The main entrance has a six-panel door with an overlight and a decorative keyblock. The windows are 12-pane sashes with stone sills, surrounds, and keyblocks, with the three central bays having more closely spaced windows. Horizontal bands of stone accentuate the facade; a band sits at the level of the ground floor window keyblocks, while a second runs along the sill level of the first floor windows. A moulded stone cornice runs along the eaves, and the roof is hipped. A stone-coped quadrant wall extends to the right.

The left side of the house, facing the garden, has four windows and similar bands, with wider spacing between the middle windows. A large, shield-shaped stone sundial is positioned between the first-floor windows on this side. A stone-coped brick garden wall with flared headers and a convex curve creates a visual match with the quadrant wall, and is lined with similar brickwork. The rear and right side elevations use courser masonry, lack string courses, and feature windows with 2-light casements, some with leaded panes and timber lintels. A round-arched window on the rear elevation illuminates the staircase, and there are four hipped dormers. A C19 porch fronts a back door on the right side, flanked by 12-pane sash windows and 2-light, leaded casements, all with timber lintels.

Inside, the central staircase hall contains a fine open-well staircase with three balusters per tread, carved tread ends, a ramped handrail, and a child gate leading to the landing. The Drawing Room retains original panelling with fluted Doric pilasters, and a fine early 16th-century frieze, believed to have been removed from a previous manor house. The frieze depicts fantastic beasts, hunting scenes, and monograms likely representing Sir Thomas Andrews and his wife Katherine Andrews, who died in 1555. An overmantel displays a large coat of arms. The backstairs have serpentine splat balusters. The house is part of a formal composition alongside a Gardener’s Cottage and stable block with attached wall.