Merefield House

Merefield House is a house, now divided into two dwellings, with construction dating to 1661, 1683, the 1830s, and the late 19th century, with an east wing added in 1900. The house is built of coursed limestone rubble in the older wing, with Ham Hill stone ashlar used for the 19th-century additions. The roof is slate, with stone stacks.

The building follows a roughly L-shaped plan, comprising a mid-17th-century block to the rear right, a 1683 block set forward to the front right, a central block dating to around 1830, a late 19th-century block to the far left, and a 1900 wing projecting forward from the earlier ranges to the right.

The main entrance is on the symmetrical 3-window facade of the central 1830s block. A moulded cornice extends over the coping of the older, lower wing to the right, almost reaching ridge level. The first floor is articulated by four shallow, panelled pilasters flanking 8/8-pane sash windows with moulded architraves, floating cornices, and panelled aprons. A platband runs along the facade, into which a shallow pediment is cut over the door; the lower edge has a roll-moulding. Steps lead to a segmental recessed porch with freestanding fluted Doric columns and a 6-panel door, remodelled around 1900 with leaded glazing to the top and overlight. Large mid-20th-century French windows flank the door.

The right-hand wing displays three gables facing east; the rear gable, likely rebuilt, has a shallower pitched roof, a central gable stack, and a 1661 datestone. The two front gables are two storeys with attics and have hollow-moulded stone-mullioned casements under label moulds - 2-light to the attics and 3-light below. An external stack sits between the gables. The front of this wing, facing north, also features stone-mullioned casements with decorative leading added around 1900, alongside datestones from 1683 and 1900.

The western wing, now a separate dwelling, is single-storey with a parapet wall over a large canted bay window spanning the entire front. A mid-18th century panelled door is located at the rear.

Internally, the roof of the mid-17th-century central unit of the rear-right wing is a 2-bay A frame with trenched purlins. The fireplace in the lateral stack has a Tudor-arched stone lintel. The rear unit has a former open fireplace, and both have stone-flagged floors. The mid-19th-century wing retains reeded cornices, elliptical recesses, and 6-panel doors. The late 19th-century west wing preserves panelling and 4-panel doors.

Merefield House forms a notable group with nearby entrance gates, walls, and a gazebo, retaining its original garden setting.