| Summary : The building complex forms a rough E-shape, the south wing projects westwards in two stages, a central west staircase projection is in line with an east porch tower and the north wing is joined to the later outbuildings. The oldest part of the house was built in the mid-16th century, the main part of the house was built against this in the first half of the 17th century. The north wing was heightened in the late 17th-early 18th century, and the house was remodelled in the late 18th century. Built as one house and divided into three in the nineteenth century, by the time the building was surveyed numbers 14 and 16 had been combined again. The walls are of brick and the main east facade is stuccoed, all the roofs are slate. Alterations in February 1999 led to part of the north wall of the main entrance passage between the porch and the restored staircase being stripped. This work revealed a doorway 1.5m wide with a straight head. The lintels and jambs are wave moulded, and the bases of the jambs have vase stops. Much red paint or staining is still visible. The doorway is in Perpendicular style but the size of the timbers suggets a date in the early 15th century. The doorway seems to be set in an original wall, though only the area immediately surrounding the doorway was stripped. This raises the problem that an early 15th century doorway and wall have been found in a house that has no other datable material before the mid 16th century. In 1990 the building was converted into offices. |