Gayles Hall And Attached Garden Wall

Gayles Hall and Attached Garden Wall

A fortified house, now divided into two farmhouses with associated outbuildings and a garden wall. Probably built in the 16th century, with alterations dating from the early 17th century, early 18th century and later periods. The building has connections to the Wycliffe family. It is constructed of rubble with ashlar dressings and has stone slate roofs.

The building is 2 storeys with an irregular H-plan, though the two south-east wings were probably originally 3 storeys. The south-east elevation features two cross wings and shows a 1:3:1 arrangement of first-floor windows. The wings have ashlar quoins. Between the second and third first-floor windows of the spine sits a centrally-hinged door of 6 fielded panels set within an ashlar architrave with bases, plain frieze and cornice. A 20th-century casement window occupies a former door opening on the ground floor to the left, and to the right of the present door is the relieving arch of another opening.

Sash windows with glazing bars are set in ashlar keyed architraves with moulded sills, many showing scars or partial surrounds of earlier mullion windows. Those in the wings have relieving arches of rubble voussoirs above. One window appears on each floor of the wings and one on the ground floor of the spine to the left. The wing gables have ashlar coping. Fluted lead rainwater heads are positioned at the angles where the wings meet the spine. Chimneys are located at the outer and inner sides of the wings.

The right return of the left (west) wing shows, on the ground floor, part of a mullion window surround, and on the first floor, a blocked 3-light mullion window. The left return of the right (east) wing has, on the ground floor, a 20th-century 6-panel door in a 20th-century chamfered ashlar surround, with a 20th-century 9-pane unequally hung sash window to its left, also in a 20th-century ashlar surround. Both openings sit below an old relieving arch. The first floor shows part of a mullion window.

The rear of the spine has, on the ground floor, a 6-pane sash window with part of a larger moulded sill and part of an 18th-century architrave used as a lintel. To its right is a blocked single-light window. On the first floor is a stepped external stack supported on 4 ovolo corbels, with fluted lead rainwater heads at the angles.

The left (east) wing rear elevation has quoins, with additional quoins two-thirds along indicating the original width before an 18th-century staircase was added. A central part-glazed door sits in a 19th-century ashlar surround with cornice and relieving arch above. A sash window appears on the first floor. To the right, an extension contains a round-arched staircase window with thick glazing bars in a surround with moulded sill and architrave to the arch, resting on imposts and bearing a tripartite keystone. The right return has a small ground-floor casement window and a first-floor blocked mullion window.

The right (west) wing rear has a board door in an ogee-moulded chamfered quoined ashlar surround below a relieving arch, a large ridge stack, and to the left (inner) return, parts of mullion windows. The right return shows, from left on the ground floor: a 2-light chamfered mullion window below a relieving arch; a tripartite window with ashlar surround where the central light is a sash with glazing bars and the outer lights are fixed, all below a segmental relieving arch; and a blocked mullion window below a relieving arch. The first floor has, in the centre, part of a mullion window surround, a sash window with glazing bars on a moulded sill, and towards the left end, an eaves stack. The left return has a chamfered ashlar doorway and mullion windows.

A rubble garden wall with ashlar coping runs approximately 8 metres north-east from the north-east corner of the rear right (east) wing, sweeping down to the north-east and featuring a basket-arched quoined chamfered ashlar doorway at its west end.

Interior features include reeded coving to cornices in the ground-floor rooms of the east wing, and 6 fielded-panel doors and linings. An early 18th-century oak dogleg staircase with turned balusters with gadroon on the vase, wreathed handrail and panelled dado was added to the north end of the east wing. The eastern room of the spine retains an early 17th-century decorated plaster ceiling, originally part of a larger room. It is now divided by thick beams into 9 panels with a circular motif in the centre panel, and features fretwork, guilloche and flower motifs, with each panel richly corniced.

From 1563 to 1821, Gayles Hall served as the seat of the Wycliffe family.