Description

BRAY OCKWELLS ROAD
SU 87 NE
(south side, off)
9/6
Cox Green
Ockwells Manor and wall
25.3.55
attached on the south east

G.V.
I
Large manor house and attached wall, now large house in landscaped setting. Built for
Sir John Norrey between 1446 and 1466. Extended and altered C16, C17. Restored and extended C19
by Fairfax Wade. Restored again in 1986 by O Mansfield Thomas and Partners of Hertfordshire.
Timber frame with part rendered infill, but with mostly brick infill, some in herringbone pattern.
Part brick. Old tile gabled roofs of different heights. Small central courtyard with cloisters
on 2 sides. Hall of 4 framed bays, screens passage and porch on the east side; 3-framed bay solar
crosswing on the north. Former servants and service wing of 6 framed bays on the south, and an
additional former kitchen wing of 4 framed bays on the west. C19 extension projecting at right
angles on the north. Former Chapel attached on the south east corner of which now only one wall
remains (q.v.). Mostly 2 storeys, part 2 storeys and attics. 7 large chimneys with offset heads
and clay pots, 2 chimneys with clustered shafts on the C19 extension. Diamond-leaded casement
windows with diamond mullions, some are C17, most are C19 and C19 restorations. Entrance (east)
front: timber frame exposed with some replacements; brick herringbone infill. Hall in centre
with a gable on each side, each with bargeboards carved with intricate pierced and foliated
ornament; traceried panelling above moulded tie-beams. Gable on left has a C19 elaborated
traceried 8-light oriel window with single-light returns. Below this is a 4-light window. Gable
on right has a full-height C19 canted bay window with a 6-light window on both floors of similar
design to the oriel window in the left bay. The centre section contains a 10-light Window to the
hall at high level; to the right of this is a gabled bay with 2 levels of 6-light windows lighting
the high end of the hall. On the left is a 2-storey, gabled, wide entrance porch with a 4-light
window on the first floor and a 4-centred wooden arch below with carved spandrels. The entrance
door is set back and is the original with wide planks, original large strap hinges and large
rimlock. Both gables in the centre section are smaller and have bargeboards of similar design to
the outer gables. The south and west fronts are plainer and irregular, with the timber frame
mostly exposed. The C19 extension is in Tudor style. Interior: the room divisions and spaces
have been very little altered from the original and have a fine quality timber frame exposed
throughout with much of the C15 work remaining. Queen post roof trusses with clasped purlins
visible in most rooms on first floor, complete with wide rafters and curved windbraces. 2 bays of
a redundant crown post roof with side purlins to a former ante-chamber on the north side of the
courtyard. Hall: moulded, arch-bracketed collar roof with curved windbraces and moulded wall
plates. The lower part of the walls are lined with C17 panelling and the former dais level is
indicated by the flooring height of the gabled hall window. The upper part of this window, and the
other windows on the east side of the hall, curtain 18 very fine armorials. One the west side in
the second bay from the north is a C15 stone fireplace with a 4-centred arch within a square head
containing a casement moulding flanked by engaged shafts with moulded caps and bases, and with a
continued moulding forming a cornice. The screens passage is on the south; planked screens with
plain cills and rails and uprights with hollow-chamfered angles inclosing narrow panels. Above
this is a panelled front to a gallery. The lower panels on the service side of the screens passage
have cinquefoil heads. On the south side of the passage there are 2 doors, each with moulded posts
and a 4-centred head with traceried spandrels. On each floor of the former solar block there is a
stone fireplace and full-height wall panelling, all of the mid to late C16. The former kitchen
still retains the original buttery hatch facing the courtyard; with a large plank falling flap,
large strap hinges and stays. There are 2 staircases. The staircase on the south is probably C15
and is a straight flight between two walls and has no balusters. The principal staircase is on the
north and at the west end of the solar wing. It is early C17, but much restored, and has moulded
strings; raking, turned, balusters; large square newels surmounted by heavy finials.
VCH, Vol. III, pp 93-96 with illustrations, B.O.E. (Berkshire), pp 187-189.

Listing NGR: SU8748778887

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Ockwells at Wikipedia
• Wikidata IDs Q17530189 Q7076560

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

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide