Swell Court Farmhouse

Swell Court Farmhouse is a manor house, later adapted as a farmhouse, dating to the mid- to late-15th century. It was altered in the 16th century, with minor work added in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly to the interior. The house is constructed of rubble, rendered and colourwashed, with coped verges, brick stacks, and Welsh slate roofs. The original plan comprised a great hall, which was subsequently divided with a solar wing and a further service wing creating a U-shaped frontage. It is two storeys high and has a 1:4:1 bay arrangement, with projecting wings featuring two-stage angle buttresses with set-offs and hipped roofs. The left wing has a 6-light hollow-moulded king-mullion window set within an ogee-moulded Ham stone surround, each light having a 4-centred arch; above this is a smaller 4-light hollow-moulded stone-mullioned window with a cambered head and label. The central four bays feature three very tall 3- and 4-light hollow-moulded stone-mullioned windows, with stopped labels and 4-centred arch heads to the lights, all within ogee-moulded surrounds. When the great hall was floored, a central panel of Ham stone was inserted into these windows at first floor level, creating two windows one above the other. A smaller 3-light stone-mullioned window sits above the doorway on the right. The right bay has 20th-century concrete-mullioned windows with early stopped labels. The pointed arch doorway has a richly moulded Ham stone surround, leaf spandrels, and a label with carved heads as label stops. The door itself features richly cusped Perpendicular tracery and iron strap hinges. The right return elevation displays four bays with a 4-light hollow-moulded stone-mullioned window with a stopped label, an 18th-century leaded wooden casement with a stopped label, a tall 18th-century stairlight under a label, two three-light casements, one in a moulded Ham stone surround, and two three-light stone-mullioned windows. Most of the windows have diamond-paned lead lights. The interior includes a screens passage. The roof retains carved 15th-century joinery. Principal rooms were remodelled in the 18th century. The remainder of the interior was not inspected.