Horselunges Manor

Details

HELLINGLY STATION ROAD 1. 5208 Horselunges Manor TQ 5812 33/630 13.10.52

I

2. This moated timber-framed house was built at the end of the C15 by John Devenish, who died in 1477, or by his son Sir John Devenish, who died before 1518. It was restored in 1925 by Mr W H Godfrey for the present owner Mr R P Rowe. It is one of the finest timber-framed buildings in the County, ranking with Great Dixter, Northiam, and St Mary's, Bramber. What remains is only part of one side of a larger, perhaps quadrangular, house, of which the original hall has disappeared and may have been pulled down as soon as the early C16, when alterations were made to the existing building. The main front faces east and is close-studded with plaster infilling. Two storeys, 5 windows. The first floor oversails on a heavy moulded bressummer and brackets with miniature shafts beneath these which divide the front into bays. Hipped tiled roof with pentice on the west side. The ground floor window to the right of the main doorway alone is not restored and was probably inserted about the beginning of the C16. There is evidence that the other ground floor windows were similar, and they have been restored to match the old window, making 4 bays on stone bases with 2 tiers of 8 lights each having wooden mullions and transoms, moulded wooden cornices over joining their heads to the overhang above, and stained glass of heraldic design which has been copied from the original windows that have survived elsewhere, though removed. None of these windows open. To the north is a smaller modern window. Wide 4-centred doorway with carved spandrels and smaller ditto to the north. At the north end is a blocked carriage archway, presumably once the gate-house, with similar spandrels. This now contains a modern window. On the first floor are 5 restored oriel windows of 8 lights each projecting on brackets, and restored gables over. One flush modern window of 6 lights. The south wall is tile-hung. At the north end the house has been joined by a small modern passage to the C18 stables of red brick on ground floor and tile-hanging above. The Great Parlour has a magnificent open-timbered ceiling with moulded beams and a wide restored fireplace moved from the centre of the room where it had been inserted with a partition in the early C16. The Great Chamber above has an open roof with tie-beams and arched braces, also a fine original door. The staircase was probably inserted in the early C16 and is built round a solid newel containing cupboards. It is screened from the entrance lobby by a partition with borrowed lights having wooden mullions, diamond-shaped leaded lights and old green glass. The south-west of the house is a 4-centred stone archway set in the red brick garden wall. The moat is complete. The double doors giving entrance to the garden on the west side of the moat and opposite the main door of the house are old and nail-studded. They are set in a brick surround and wall. Article in the Sussex Archaeological Collections, Vol 66 p 1, and in Country Life of the 5 January, 1935.

Listing NGR: TQ5821512010

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

295292

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Sussex Archaeological Collection in Sussex Archaeological Collection, Vol. 66, (), 1
Country Life in 5 January, (1935)

End of official list entry

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