Norrington Manor is a medieval

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 manor house

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

 at Alvediston

Alvediston

Alvediston is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 91 . It is about eight miles east of Shaftesbury, at , and is the source of the River Ebble....

, near Salisbury

Salisbury

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...

, in the southern English county of Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

. It is a Grade I listed building.

History

The present house has its origins in a manor house probably built by John Gawen, who bought the property in 1377. Seventeenth-century alterations are thought to have been made by the Wyndham family, which acquired the estate in 1658.

Description

Some features of the house date from the late 14th century, others from the 15th, 16th, 17th and 19th centuries. The principal walls are of dressed limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 under a tiled roof with ashlar

Ashlar

Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...

 chimneys. There is a 14th-century three-bay hall

Great hall

A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence...

 and a cross passage with flanking 17th-century cross wings and a 16th-century range at the front. A 15th-century porch

Porch

A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...

 to the right of the main front has a pointed archway. There is a 14th-century undercroft

Undercroft

An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground area which is relatively open to the sides, but covered by the building above.- History :While some...

 and a solar

Solar

Solar may refer to:Astronomy* Of or relating to the Sun** A device that utilizes solar energy** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun* Solar Maximum Mission, a satellite...

 at the west end of the hall. Inside the hall is a Tudor-arched stone chimneypiece. In the east wing is a 17th-century newel staircase with turned balusters.