History

The name, proximity to the site of Parc Grace Dieu, and the high quality of surviving features, suggest a possible association with the monastic community. Fox & Raglan suggested two closely succeeding phases of addition to an earlier house, then demolished, but the building can also be interpreted on its own terms without either hypothesis. Modernised since their survey (in 1943), losing some of the features which then existed. It contains interesting evidence of what Fox & Raglan called a "house-within-a-house".

Exterior

Very thick rubble walls (almost 1m) now rendered and roughcast; blue slate roofs on 2 levels; red brick chimneys. The plan has 2 elements: a "hall" range on a roughly N-S axis, originally of 2 unequal cells, with a much taller 1-unit, 2½-storey parlour wing at its S end projecting slightly to the E; plus a lean-to at the N gable and another lean-to wrapped round the E gable of the parlour wing (each containing a modern doorway and modern windows). The surviving features of historical interest are wooden mullioned windows in the parlour wing: in the S elevation: one of 6 lights at ground floor and one of 2 lights at 1st floor; and in the W gable wall, one of 7 lights at ground floor and one of 2 lights offset left at 1st floor. All have wooden lintels and deeply-recessed moulded mullions, and those at ground floor have moulded surrounds. (Plate XIVd of Fox & Raglan vol.2 shows a W gable chimney and 2 small attic windows, but the chimney has been removed and the 2 windows have been replaced by a single modern window in the centre of the gable. Also, wooden mullioned windows of 6 and 4 lights at ground floor of the W side of the hall range at the time of their survey have been replaced with modern glazing.) There is a small chimney at the N gable of the hall range and another at the E gable of the wing.

Interior

The hall range was originally partitioned to form a "hall" with a small "inner room" at its S end, as indicated by an undecorated lateral beam where the partition would have been. A central lateral beam and a half-beam close to the N gable wall survive, together with a full set of original ceiling joists, all with rich run-out moulding. In the SE corner of this range is a massive Tudor-arched oak doorway with chamfered surround and original plank door with applied vertical moulding, opening into the parlour, from which it was originally lockable with a draw bar, as a slot for this indicates. (This appears to be evidence of a "house-within-a-house", enabling the family to separate themselves from inferior members of the household.) The parlour has 3 lateral beams with run-out moulding like those in the hall range, but a ceiling now conceals the joists. A very thick E gable wall contains a hearth (now concealed) and formerly contained a mural staircase in the SE corner. Built into the SW corner, and extending beneath both windows, is an L-shaped panelled-back settle. The chamber above was reported by Fox & Raglan to contain a lateral beam with running-vine decoration.

Reasons for Listing

Included as an interesting C16 house of modest proportions still containing original features of high quality.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29502716

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

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey