Description

WEST STAFFORD
SY 7289 STAFFORD HOUSE
8/207 )
16/207 ) Stafford
House, including
26.1.56 attached garden
walls on north and
east

GV I

Country house, the former manor house of vanished village of Frome Billet.
Original wing C16, enlarged in 1633 to form E-plan. Enlarged with parallel
range and entrance moved from east front to west, c1848, architect Benjamin
Ferrey. Rough ashlar stone walls, stone slate roofs with moulded coped
gables and kneelers. Ashlar stacks with moulded caps, some rising from
gable tops. 2 storeys and attics. East front has projecting gabled wings
each end. Chamfered plinth, and string course at first floor level. The
left gable, part of the C16 block, has 2 C2U stone mullioned windows on
ground floor. First floor and attic each have 2 single light windows with
arched lights and cast iron glazing, under hoodmoulds. Right gable has on
ground floor, a 3-light stone mullioned window with arched lights and cast
iron glazing - hoodmould incorporated in string course. Similar 3-light
window on first floor, and 2-light in attic. At right end an externally
projecting stack. In centre of range, a 2-storeyed gabled porch. Moulded
round arched doorway with keystone, and imposts with moulded caps. Date
1633 on keystone. Inner doorway with depressed 4-centred arch and part
glazed 'Gothick' door. Each side of porch, 2 similar 3-light windows on
each floor. In attic, on each side, a similar 2-light window in gabled
dormer. West (entrance) front, c1845, in similar style, has shallow
projecting gabled wings each end. In centre, ground floor has 4 round
arches - the centre 2 open, the outer 2 blocked, with shell headed niches.
Moulded panelled entrance door in centre section. On first floor, two
4-light windows as in original front. Coat of Arms between these. In left
gable a 2-storeyed bay window, with similar mullioned windows on each
floor. In right gable, no bay, but similar windows, 4-light on ground
floor, 3-light on first floor. At right end, set back, the gable end of the
C16 block, with similar windows on each floor. At left end of main range an
attached garden wall of rubble stone, with arched opening. At its left end
this extends forward, with square angle and terminal piers with moulded caps
and ball finials. At the rear, at left end, an attached garden wall with
4-centred arched opening. Internally, the C16 block has a stone spiral
stair, with 'Gothick' style wrought iron balustrade at first floor. Deep
chamfered ceiling beams in kitchen. Blocked 4-centred arched fireplace on
first floor. In C17 range, entrance hall and adjoining room (the original
hall) have cornices and other details in 'Gothick' style, late C18 or early
C19. In C19 range in entrance hall, closed string stair, and doorcases in
Jacobean style. Intersecting ceiling beams with jewel ornament and
pendants. Jacobean style book cases in library. Interesting C19 adaptation
of an earlier single pile house. (RCHM Monument 5. Dorset Vol II.
Hutchins. History of Dorset II 514 Country Life, March 1962)

Listing NGR: SY7243790017

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17533169

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

• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]