Building record 1335/2/1 - The Manor House

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1139331 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

House. Early C17. Addition of late C17 date and another dated by inscription IOHN BROOKE ECCL 2 II MARY 1671. Further C19 and C20 additions, those in 1902 by Isaac Massey the builders for Col. Dixon,JP. Stone plinth, timber framing with brick and rendered brick infill. Slate and cement tile roof. Two and three storeys. Entrance front: gable-ended core of original 2-cell building to left of centre has stone plinth and 7 x 3 cells of small framing with angle braces. Door to left. Moulded bressumer for jetty supported on brackets. C17 or C18 casement window to first floor. To right of this is the late Cl7 range of 7 x 3 cells of small framing on a stone plinth to the ground floor and a similar number of cells to the first floor. Ground floor window of three Cl7 or C18casement lights. C20 door to right. Two C17 or C18 casement lights to first floor. Decorative framing to gable of diamond patterned small framing with cross motifs. To right of this is the dated range of 1671 with 4 x 3 cells of small framing to the ground floor and a 3-light casement window. Inscription to upper horizontal beam. Moulded jetty-bressumer immediately above this. First floor has. 3i x 2 cells of ornamental panelling with cusped 1/4-circle decorative motifs and a Cl7 or C18 4-light casement window. Further moulded bressumer jettied to third floor which has 3 x 2 cells of small framing with 3-light casement window in gable which has fleur-de-lys motifs to the apex and sides. Extensive C19 and C20 additions to left and right and at the rear of the house. Interior: Two full crucks to the early C17 portion of the house originally forming an open hall but divided into two floors in the mid or late C17. Later C17 portion has small framing to internal walls and chamfered ceiling beams. Richly moulded bressumer to parlour ingle-nook fireplace with ovolo-moulded supporting piers of stone. Tension brace to former external wall. C19 inscription on interior side of beam recording the building of 1671 reads "When thou hast eaten and art full then shalt thou thank the Lord thy God". First floor bedroom and dressing room have C18 ogee-moulded plaster ceilings. Fine C17 staircase with moulded splat balusters with heart-shaped holes, moulded hand rail and ribbed newel posts with octagonally faceted ball knops. Some C17 or C18 glass surviving.

<2> Jenny Wetton Conservation, 2017, The Manor House, Chelford: Heritage Statement (Parts 1 and 2), R4279 (Client Report). SCH8645.

A heritage assessment was undertaken in 2017 for the Grade II* Listed Chelford Manor in advance of proposed alterations and extension. The house appears to have originated as a two-unit, small house in a timber frame aligned north-south, probably dating from the early seventeenth century (although sources differ over this) with several phases of extension, including two extensions which date from later in the seventeenth century or eighteenth century. The north wing appears to date from the mid-nineteenth century and there are additional early twentieth century extensions and alterations. It is considered to be of high significance overall with much of the timber-framing considered to be of exceptional significance.

<3> Garry Miller: Architectural Historian, 2019, Proposed Extension to Garages at Chelford Manor, Chelford, Cheshire East, R4383 (Client Report). SCH8802.

A heritage assessment was produced in 2019 in support of a proposed extension to the garages at Chelford Manor, Chelford. The garages are a much later element of the site than the principal assets, a nineteenth or early twentieth century outbuilding that underwent substantial alteration and extension in the later twentieth century as part of its conversion to garages. The manner of conversion, with large gabled projections containing garage doors, mean these alterations now predominate and its earlier origins are overwhelmed. The significance of the building is therefore low in comparison to the Manor House and barn as the principal assets of the site.