The Chantry

The Chantry is a house and barn, originally a gatehouse dwelling and north service building, dating from the mid to late 16th century, with alterations from the 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed from coursed square limestone and limestone rubble, topped with a plain-tile roof and featuring brick end and ridge stacks. The building is two stories high and has a five-bay range.

The south-facing elevation, which faces the road, has two large blocked windows with roughly 4-centred heads; the window on the right has a smaller blocked opening with a wooden lintel. The glazing is irregular, featuring 1-, 2-, and 3-light casement windows with wooden lintels. There is an off-set buttress near the left angle. The left end elevation has three ventilation slits, while the right end elevation has a 20th-century door with a wooden lintel and a carved stone head above it. The rear elevation includes four 3-light stone arch mullion windows with cut spandrels; the central window has been replaced by a 20th-century door, and there is a plank door to the far right with a wooden lintel. On the first floor, there are a pair of 20th-century leaded casement windows to the left of center and a loft door to the right of center, both situated between the ground floor windows.

Inside, the dwelling features a large chamfered spine beam. The late medieval roof spans the entire building and consists of a five-bay structure with massive stop-chamfered cambered tie beams supporting the principal rafters, which are joined by queen struts to the collars and two tiers of purlins. The original rafters remain intact throughout. The building is thought to have been a gatehouse range, similar in form to that of Northborough in Cambridgeshire. Grafton was a royal manor in the 16th century, with recorded work taking place here in the 1520s to 1580s.