Orchard Wyndham And Belvedere Adjoining To North-East

This is a country house with a complex history, originating in the medieval period and significantly altered between the late 15th and early 21st centuries. The house was enlarged in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, with further additions in the early 17th century. A staircase was inserted into the courtyard area around 1700. A West wing was demolished, and the facade was refronted and refenestrated around 1830, likely by Richard Carver. A porch was added, and part of the south-west front was gabled and refronted around 1860.

The building is constructed of roughcast over random rubble red sandstone, with hipped slate roofs concealed behind a parapet, and rendered stacks. The plan reveals an evolution through two adjoining courtyards; a central medieval hall is ceiled, and the courtyard to the north-west was filled around 1700 with a staircase. The original late 15th-century open hall is located beyond the facade, and it adjoins a north-east wing which incorporates a depressed Tudor arched opening in the wall, leading to a two-storey belvedere.

The main facade presents as two storeys and five bays, with irregularly placed early 19th-century four- and five-light Tudor arched headed casements, complete with hood moulds. A central full-height Tudor arched window with six-over-four panes has glazed double doors below, and is fronted by a porch. The central three bays are roughcast, displaying a shallow brick relieving arch to the outer bay on the left and a stone relieving arch to the outer bay on the right. A casement cutting reveals the remains of a cinquefoil headed blocked light, and fragments of quoins are set into the first floor level. A moulded arched opening likely provided access to the demolished West wing. The re-entrant angle of the cross wing features four bays with two-light casements on the first floor, and a two-light mullioned and transomed window on the ground floor to the left. A flat-roofed porch with partially glazed doors and sidelights is also present.

The belvedere, set into the hillside, is designed to appear as three storeys, with square blank panels on the first floor level, accessed through a semi-circular headed brick porch.

The interior is said to contain an ice house accessed from roadway level on the north-east front. The open hall boasts a late 15th-century decorative arch braced roof, a lower section of an oriel bay, a moulded Tudor arch lateral fireplace, and early 18th-century raised and fielded panelling. Other features include a three-and-a-half bay jointed cruck roof, an arch braced roof with a stud and panel partition, a collection of late 16th- to early 18th-century panelling, a late 16th-century plasterwork ribbed ceiling, plasterwork friezes, a collection of fireplaces from the demolished house at Silverton, Devon, and an early 18th-century staircase with a carved string. Despite the altered exterior attributed to Carver, the house retains a remarkably unaltered collection of interior fittings dating from the 16th to early 18th centuries, including three medieval hall roofs.