Manor Farmhouse

Manor Farmhouse

House, dating from the late 15th or early 16th century, with alterations from the 17th century and extensions and remodelling from the 18th century. Built in dressed blue lias with some Ham stone dressings, the roof is double Roman clay tile with stone coped gable ends. Brick and stone gable end and axial stacks are present.

The plan is F-shaped. The main range comprises a three-room plan with chambers above. The central hall contains an axial stack at the lower end, backing onto what was formerly a cross-passage, though the lower side partition has been removed. A small lower left room to the west has a gable-end stack with a newel stair to its side. The upper end is divided axially into a parlour and a smaller front room, which now contains an early 19th-century staircase. In the early 17th century, a porch was built on the south front and the hall was panelled. During the 18th century, one-room plan additions were built at the left west end and at the front of the high right east end, and the rear north elevation was remodelled to serve as the front.

The exterior presents two storeys. The asymmetrical south front features various stone mullion windows, sashes with glazing bars, and casements. A gable-ended wing rises on the right with a lean-to addition on its right side. A gabled two-storey porch sits to the left of centre, its entrance framed with a chamfered stone doorway with benches. The inner doorway has a moulded wooden Tudor arch frame with a plank door featuring cover-moulds and strap hinges. A lower range extends to the left with stone mullion windows and a gable. The rear north elevation is asymmetrical, with large 12-pane sashes flanking a panelled door sheltered by an ornate wooden lattice porch with a tent-shaped roof. The first floor has three 16-pane sashes; to the right stand a three-light stone mullion window and a blocked single-light cusped window, both with hoodmoulds, and a small stone light serving the newel stairs. A lower range appears on the right west side. The east gable end has 12-pane sashes.

Internally, the hall features a compartmented ceiling with heavily moulded intersecting beams and moulded panelling with fluted pilasters to the chimney-breast, which bears grotesque masks (though a new stone chimneypiece has been installed). The parlour has heavy timber-framed walls, the axial wall containing a small blocked four-centred arch doorway, and a compartmented ceiling with heavily moulded intersecting beams. An early 19th-century dog-leg staircase is located at the high end. The low end room has a moulded half-beam with mortices for a former screen, and a fireplace with a large chamfered bressumer; newel stairs to the side are framed with a chamfered Tudor arch doorway fitted with a studded plank door. The lower west end range contains chamfered cross-beams with run-out stops and a fireplace with a reused stone moulded Tudor arch bressumer. The southeast wing at the high end has a chamfered axial beam with step and run-out stops. Chambers within the main range show exposed wall-framing and deeply chamfered cross-beams with hollow step stops. The main range roof is arch-braced with two tiers of wind-braces, which survive over the hall and parlour chambers, though the arch-braces and most wind-braces are now missing. A closed truss spans between the hall and parlour chambers. The roof over the lower end was replaced in approximately the late 17th century with a tenoned-purlin structure featuring notched halved and lapped collars. The additions at the west end and to the southeast have tenoned-purlin roofs.