Midelney Manor, Forecourt And Garden Walling With Gate Piers

Midelney Manor is a manor house situated within landscaped grounds, dating from the late 16th century with significant early 18th-century alterations and further work in 1830. The property, originally on an island site belonging to Muchelney Abbey, passed to the Trevillian family following the Dissolution. It is constructed of coursed and squared lias stone with Hamstone dressings, featuring coped verges, slate and plain-tiled roofs, and tall ashlar stacks with moulded caps. The house has an Elizabethan, U-shaped frontage comprised of two long front-facing wings, with a rear falconer’s mews. The front elevation is two storeys high, with a part-attic, and has a 1:2:2:1 bay arrangement. It features 2, 3, and 4-light stone mullioned windows with restored iron casements and square-paned leaded lights, along with stopped labels. Three gabled attic dormers are present on the left-hand side of the roof. The outer face of each wing includes blank 2 and 3-light windows. Two main entrances are located at the angles of the forecourt, each with a ribbed door. A low forecourt wall leads to a gateway with ashlar piers capped with ball finials. The attached brick falconer’s mews, which is now altered to a kitchen, is rectangular and includes a blocked door opening with a semi-circular head in a moulded freestone surround, flanked by two oval windows, and beneath a series of rectangular niches. The rear garden is enclosed by a high brick wall with a freestone coping, and accessed through two principal gateways, each with ashlar piers, moulded caps, and ball finials. The interior features extensive early 18th-century work, including panelling to two rooms and a ground-floor vestibule which has a shell-headed niche. A dog-leg staircase in the right wing has turned balusters and a richly moulded handrail. Further panelling is found on three first-floor rooms. Remaining features from the late 16th century include a kitchen fireplace in the left wing, some ceiling beams and lias flooring.