Description:

(2). MICHAELCHURCH COURT, house and fishpond, 1 m. W.N.W. of the church. The House is of three storeys ; the walls are of rubble with some timber-framing, and the roofs are covered with stone slates. The original house is of the 16th century or earlier and is of L-shaped plan with the wings extending towards the N. and E. In 1602 a timber-framed addition, including a porch, was made on the E. side of the N. wing. There are 18th-century and modern additions.

The plasterwork of the porch is an interesting feature.

The E. front (Plate 185) has the timber framed addition at the N. end; it has three gables and exposed framing, but is partly destroyed by a later addition. The upper storey projects on a moulded bressummer and the upper part, with the gables, has timber-work in geometrical panels. Below the S. gable is the porch with segmental-headed outer and inner archways; the walls are panelled to more than half the height, and above the panelling they have ornamental plaster-work (Plate 186) which is continued over the ceiling; the design is formed of conventional vine-stems with grapes and rosettes; on the S. side are the letters MLCEN.P. and the date 1602 ; on the W. side is a grotesque face. In the N. wall of the house is a doorway with a heavy oak frame and panelled door with ornamental strap-hinges. Inside the building, some timber framing and ceiling-beams are exposed. The hall, dining-room and other rooms are lined with 16th and 17th-century panelling.

The Fishpond, 500 yards E.N.E. of the house, has been formed by raising a bank to dam a small stream which flows into a mill-race by the side of the Escley Brook. This bank is on the E. side of the pond and returns for a short distance at either end, where advantage has been taken of the natural slope of the ground towards the stream to form a roughly triangular enclosure; the N.W. side has been artificially scarped. The pond is now dry.

Condition—Of house, good, much altered.

Observations:

Description documented c 1930 by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments

Ordnance Survey Map Reference and Index of Parish Properties