The Old Manor, Croscombe


The Old Manor in Croscombe, Somerset, England, was built around 1460–89 as a rectorial manor house for Hugh Sugar, the Treasurer of Wells Cathedral. It was altered in the 16th and 18th centuries, and in the 20th century by the Landmark Trust. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.
The colourwashed building was part of a larger manor house built around 1420 by William Palton. It was used as a Baptist Chapel for 250 years from 1720.
The walls are supported by large sloping buttresses. The hall, which is the main room of the building, has an oak roof divided into four bays, with five arch-braced trusses. Since 1975 the house has been run by the Landmark Trust who carried out extensive renovation work.
In the hall is a stove by Goldsworthy Gurney, which he patented in 1856, was extensively used to heat a wide variety of buildings. The stove's most interesting feature is the use of external ribs to increase the surface area of the stove available for heat transfer.