The Manor House was original a single dwelling, but has now been subdivided into two dwellings, the Manor House and Little Manor, the date of this subdivision is not known.
Little Manor comprises the original portion of the house, and dates to the C16th/C17th. The architect is unknown. It is two storey with attic. It is of brick and timber frame construction with some internal timber stud walls and an old clay tile roof. Original plan form probably rectangular hall house, extensions at south east end and to north west and north east at the northern end have created a T shaped plan, with added modern porch on south west side to main door. Sash windows not original, 2 dormers to attic. Interior includes two visible stud walls (one an interior wall in kitchen on ground floor, one an interior wall on first floor). Possible bread oven in kitchen, and stone flagged passage and stud wall butler’s pantry in sitting room. Original wooden beams in attic. An existing well on the north east side of the older section is now enclosed by a modern well house. There is a C19 pump stamped J Tylor & Sons Ltd, 2 Newgate, London EC outside the back door (J Tylor & Sons were at 2 Newgate from 1892-1907, and made pumps for wells).
The Manor House comprises three storeys and was added to western end of the original building, in the C18th / C19th. Rendered, parapet walls, concealing a hipped tiled roof, double plain string course between ground and first floors. Windows of various styles including Edwardian Revival style sash windows (smaller panes in upper sash and single pane in bottom sash), Victorian single pane sash windows, and casement windows.
The plan form is complex, original extension was three storey and rectangular with 2no two storey bay windows on the south west side, and a single window with canopy on the second storey south west side, but an additional extension was made on the front wall in the C19th, possibly first as a Victorian porch with stained glass windows, and then a further two storey extension which walled in the porch and extended the whole line of the front. Windows various styles, but arched window in hallway over stairs may indicate original polite front entrance was in this north eastern wall. Current front entrance is on the south west wall, and is surrounded by a doorcase of simple design, with flat hood on pilasters. Early 1900’s a single storey extension to north side of the building blocked off the view of the arched window. Modern chimney has been added to the north wall of this extension.
An additional single storey building to the north of the main building, now used as a study, also has wooden beams possibly of the same period as the older section of the house.
It is possible that the older building ‘Little Manor’ was originally a manor house for one of the three manors in Burghfield (Burghfield Regis, Burghfield Abbas, and Sheffield), although the use of the name “Manor House” for this structure cannot be traced back further than the census in 1871. Prior to this date the building and surrounding land was owned by the Earl of Shrewsbury’s Estate.
Once the polite extension to the north-west was built, the older building appears to have been used for servants, and the remains of a stone flagged butler’s passage and pantry can be seen in the sitting room of Little Manor. The polite extension to the Manor House seems to date from the later Georgian or early Victorian period and was originally a three storey rectangle facing north west, but further extensions have been added in the Victorian/Edwardian period to extend the front face at ground and first storey, and a single storey extension was added to the north east of this in the 1900’s.
This is an intriguing building which indicates a long and complex history. The presence in Little Manor of older timbers and other significant historic features suggests this building has a history stretching back some 300 to 400 years, and the polite extension is historically also important. The building may well be linked to the medieval manors, and certainly existed in its older and polite form as part of the historic Shrewsbury estate, giving it a distinct role in local history. The polite extension has some attractive and representative architectural features, including the bay windows and door design, and the interior is also representative of polite architecture. The building is already present on the HER.
The Manor House was also the home for four years of Admiral John Harold Unwin, and from 1970 was the home of Sir John Figgess OBE KBE CMG. Little Manor was the home of Lt Colonel Stuart Whitemore Chant-Sempel OBE MC
The building is in excellent condition.
Location
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