The Manor House

The Manor House is a detached house primarily dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. It is situated in Barton St David, Somerset. The house is constructed of local lias stone with squared blocks, featuring Doulting ashlar dressings. The roof is Welsh slate over stone base courses, with coped gables and stone and brick chimney stacks. It follows an H-shaped plan.

The west elevation has two bays and is two storeys high with attics. It features hollow-chamfered mullioned windows set in recesses, with continuous labels below and separate labels above. The windows on the left are three-light, and those on the right are four-light, with predominantly 20th-century infills. The south elevation has three bays, with the outer bays projecting as gables. The first bay contains four-light hollow-chamfered mullioned windows in recesses with labels, matching a three-light window in the attic gable, which has a barley-sugar twist finial to the coping. The second bay has four-light windows; the lower window has ovolo-moulded mullions. To the left of this window is a 20th-century door set in a recess. The third bay is lower and may be of earlier construction, featuring a two-light hollow-chamfered mullioned window without a label to the upper floor. A puzzling stone projection is located in the corner against the second bay. The east side shows three-light ovolo-moulded windows in the end gable, on both the first floor and in the attic, both with labels. On the north side, a projecting 19th-century kitchen wing extends from the first bay and connects to the south block with a straight joint. The north-facing block has a reserve chamfered mullioned lower window.

The interior layout has been significantly altered, and the original plan is not immediately apparent. Notable features include the upper half of a circular timber staircase, of good width, with tree east and solid shaped treads, and an inner handrail clear of the newel. A triangular arched reserve chamfered stone fireplace surround is found in the west room. Elsewhere, there are chamfered beams, with run-out stops, while a small south-east corner projection has deep hollow chamfered beams. A fine ovolo-moulded cambered arch in timber forms part of the first-floor corridor, and three ovolo-mould doorways lead to the attic, retaining their original boarded doors. The house is historically associated with the Adams family, who emigrated to America; a descendant was John Quincy Adams.