Description

TQ 65 SW PLAXTOL OLD SOAR ROAD
4/23 (north side)

Old Soar
GV
I

Remains of manor-house. Circa 1290 with C14 alterations, restored in the C20. Solar
wing, with chapel and chamber with garderobe, of first floor hall-house, the hall
replaced in C18 by Old Soar Farmhouse, evidence for which has been found in the area
to the south of the solar. Exterior. Coursed rubble stone with rubble stone
dressings. Steep-pitched tiled roof joined at right-angles to the roof of Old Soar
Farmhouse. Chapel and chamber projections also with steep pitched tiled roofs.
Chamber attached at right-angles at the north-west corner. Chapel attached at slight
angle at north-east corner. Tall lancet windows in east and west ends of solar on
first floor. Wide doorway on east side to undercroft with chamfered segmental-pointed
head and jambs. Loophole on first floor of north side near chapel angle at left.
Central square chimney-breast and window on first floor to right with shouldered
lintel and chamfered jambs. Chapel with arched windows to north and south and east
window blocked and extended down to form doorway with steps up. Doorway on ground
floor of south side to chapel undercroft with chamfered jambs and straight
segmental-pointed arch. On first floor to left blocked doorway. The original
entrance to the chapel with straight segmental-pointed arch, and one jamb chamfered,
the other in line with the west wall of the solar. Chamber with garderobe has
cross-loop with base on each side on first floor and one on east wall at ground floor
level. Two-centered arch with rubble voussoirs on north side ground floor for
cleaning garderobe pit. Interior. Solar undercroft. Pointed barrel vault. Entrance
doorway in east wall, small loop in west wall. Newel staircase at south-west corner
giving access to solar above. Solar. Corbel on original hall side (south) to the
east of doorway to solar, showing original Hall to have been aisled. Carved foliage
in triple capitals, shafts finished with leaf ornament and necking and abacus
scroll-moulded. Bethersden marble block above, supporting beam along wall. (These
features within Old Soar Farmhouse). Segmental-pointed arch to staircase doorway into
solar. West window with hollow-chamfered rear-arch, splayed jambs and seats with
chamfered cappings. Segmental-pointed arched doorway to chamber. Fireplace has lost
its hood, but retains chamfered jamb on one side. East window similar to that
opposite but without seats. Two blocked openings on south side to left. Open
crown-post collar-purlin truss roof. Chapel. Corbel on north side of east window
with foliated ornament, scroll-moulded abacus and necking. Single-light window on
south wall. Early C14 piscinar to left with cinquefoiled head, trefoil and crocket
decoration and hexagonal drain. This building is a National Trust property in the
Guardianship of the Department of the Environment. It is also scheduled as an Ancient
Monument. See Old Soar, Margaret Wood, DOE Guide, London, 1979.

Listing NGR: TQ6194154094

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Old Soar Manor at Wikipedia
• Old Soar Manor official website
• Wikidata Q7084990

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper