Description

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

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Horselunges Manor at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17535606

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)