Details
SWALCLIFFE MAIN ROAD
SP3737 (North side)
7/79 Manor House
08/12/55 (Formerly listed as
Swalcliffe Manor)
- I
Rectorial manor house, now house. C13 service wing. C14: hall rebuilt in
stone probably replacing earlier timber structure; solar wing added to north
east; lower storey of solar vaulted. C16: hall ceiling inserted; hall
partition inserted (removed at time of re-survey) fireplace added against
screens passage; staircase added in north wall of hall; fireplace added in
chamber above hall; kitchen wing added to north of solar wing. Later
alterations: rebuilding of south-west wall of service wing; conversion of
buttery and pantry to panelled parlours; C20 extension to east. Coursed regular
ironstone rubble. Welsh and stone slate roofs. Stone ridge and end stacks to
hall range, service wing and kitchen extension. Stone copings. Service wing,
hall, solar wing, kitchen wing, C20 range. 3-unit cross passage plan. 2 storey
service wing, single storey plus attic to main block. Garden front of 4 bays.
Entrance to screens passage to left has 2-centred arched doorway with hood
mould and head stops. Plank door. To the left a C13 lancet. To right: Bay
window has slated, hipped roof; 2 buttresses against the hall wall; 2 triplets
of lancets probably C20 to undercroft. Entrance to C20 range to right. Mainly
2- and 3-light stone mullions with hood moulds and label stops to attic.
Service wing to left has 2 sash windows with square labels on ground floor
flanking blocked doorway with hood mould and stops. First floor has sash
windows. Rear: Back doorway to screens passage has fragmentary remains of
arched hood mould with stops. Remaining windows to rear mainly 2- and 3-light
casements some with wooden lintels. C20? lancet to west wall of kitchen range.
Interior: Screens passage retains 2 original C13 pointed arched doorways which
lead buttery and pantry. Service wing now 2 parlours has Corinthian columns
and fireplace, possibly Edwardian. Hall to right of screens passage has large
C16 fireplace with traces of wall painting above. To right of hall, undercroft
of solar has 4 bays of quadripartite vaulting. Rear wall of undercroft has
narrow vaulted stone passage. Kitchen wing entered from this passage. Attic:
C16 stone fireplace in chamber above hall; blocked pointed arched window to
exterior wall of solar uncovered at time of resurvey. Details include hollow
chamfered jambs, moulded hood with stops. Medieval? wall painting in north wall
of attic in roof space above solar wing discovered at time of resurvey.
History: C14 and C15 work carried out under the patronage of William of
Wykeham, founder of New College, Oxford. Richard de Winchcombe, master mason
worked on the manor 1405-6. John Jylkes, carpenter employed by New College,
worked on the hall and stables 1397-8 and chambers and chapel 1423-33.
Swalcliffe manor house noted as being of particular interest as a smaller
example of the manorial class, retaining much of its original C13 plan and
details.
(V.C.H.: Oxfordshire, vol. X, p.238; Wood-Jones, R.B. Traditional Domestic
Architecture of the Banbury Region, 1963, p.22, pp.25-28; Wood, M. The English
Medieval House, 1965, pp.91-2, 98, 335; Buildings of England: Oxfordshire,
1974, pp.796-7)
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
244090
Legacy System:
LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
End of official list entry
