Description

ST6867
739-1/6/91
27/02/50

SALTFORD
QUEEN SQUARE
(North side)
Saltford Manor House
(Formerly Listed as:
KEYNSHAM
QUEEN SQUARE, Saltford
(North side)
Saltford Manor House)

GV
II*

Manor house. c1160 with early C13, C15, 1637, 1645, C19 and
mid C20 alterations and additions. Original Norman manor house
built by Earl William of Gloucester; major mid C17 remodelling
during ownership of two generations of Flower family. Squared
and coursed rubble laid in distinct bands to south facade,
coursed rubble to north facade, ashlar dressings, copings and
gabled single-Roman tile roof to main range, pantiles to west
wing; ashlar stacks to west gable end and mid-ridge.
PLAN: main range is the extent of the original Norman manor
with cellarage and first-floor hall with solar to the east and
parlour to the west; in the early C13 the parlour was possibly
converted into a chapel. In the C15 the cellar was turned into
a living space and the hall horizontally divided into 2
floors. The wing to the west (now in separate ownership and
not included in the listing) was probably added in the Tudor
period and a further wing was built to the west in the mid
C17. Small early C19 outshuts to rear.
EXTERIOR: 3-storey; 3-window range. Ground floor to south
front has two 3-light ovolo-moulded mullions with casements
under flush relieving arches to left of doorway and one
2-light mullion window to right; first floor has similar
2-light mullion windows under continuous string course with
relieving arches over; second-floor windows are 2-light
mullions set below eaves. C15 diagonal buttress to south-west
corner and weathered, carved lion to east gable end. Recessed
doorway with flat stone hood and plank door. late C20 glazed
door to west wing and two 2-light mullion windows to first
floor. North front reveals the Norman origins of the manor
with a round-arched mid C12 window to first floor: 2 arched
lights with central column and cushion capital and outer
colonnettes; 2 tiers of chevron moulding and outer nail-head
moulding to arch. This window is set between large buttresses
with set-offs. 2-light early C13 window to left-hand at
first-floor level with trefoil-cusped heads and quatrefoil
above; single-light rectangular window above and to the left
lighting staircase.
INTERIOR: entrance hallway has massive oak ceiling beams
supporting the first-floor hall; spiral staircase with stone
treads now covered with wooden planks; round-arched doorway to
north wall. Drawing room to left-hand ground floor has C15
fireplace with wave-moulded architrave and broach stops to
bases, panelled wooden lintel with central quatrefoil and
plaster strapwork overmantel with cartouches flanked by
columns. The overmantel has the initials LF/E, AF and the date
1645: this relates to Lamorock Flower, his wife and the older
Mrs Flower. Mid C17 marquetry panel above doorway and large
mid C12 corbel supporting ceiling on south wall. East wall to
staircase and adjacent room has early C13 wall paintings (now
boxed in and not visible at time of survey) with imitation
masonry, a Virgin and Child and a scene with a Wheel of
Fortune. First-floor room to west has the inner face of the
mid C12 window with two orders of colonnettes with inner
roll-moulding and outer chevron-moulding; stone chimneypiece
possibly re-using mid C16 outer mouldings and base stops with
initials LF and AF and the date 1637: another Lamorock Flower
and his wife; moulded ceiling beam with run-off stops.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Saltford Manor is a rare survival of a Norman
hall, contemporary with Horton Court in nearby
Gloucestershire. The latter was a prebendal house and it can
be assumed that Saltford had a direct association with
Keynsham Abbey.
Saltford Manor House, Dovecote (qv) and Church of St Mary (qv)
form a good group.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: North Somerset and
Bristol: London: 1958-: 254-5; Country Life: Bryan Little:
London: 24 July:: 1958-: 178-81).

Listing NGR: ST6853267477

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Saltford Manor House at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7406110

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

• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)