The Architecture of Quorn

Chaveney Manor - The Early History

In the first of a series of articles, looking at the notable architecture of the Quorn, local architect Paul Roberts, investigates the intriguing and complex early history of one of Quorn's oldest and least understood buildings. The concluding pail will be published in the next issue.

Few residents of Quorn can fail to have noticed the work recently carried out to Chaveney Manor, the large red brick building on Chaveney Road, facing Elms Drive. Had it not been for the recent activity, many would have continued to overlook this important building which due to its past neglect, has had little to recommend it to more than a passing glance.

With the purchase of the building and subsequent refurbishment by the Sowden Group, the story of this important edifice has been gradually exposed and its historical growth investigated and recorded.

As with many domestic buildings, which have undergone significant alterations over the years, the precise pattern of development at Chaveney Manor has been difficult to disentangle. The situation is further compounded by the common practice of re-using building materials during alterations.

Centuries ago, without the benefit of modern transport and construction techniques, builders were limited in their pallet of materials, to those which were readily available around the site, or which could be transported by horse and cart. It was not until the advent of the Industrial Revolution, that mass production and ease of transport via first the canals and then railways, enabled builders to source their materials from further afield.

A regular additional supply of materials lay in scavenging from redundant or re-modelled buildings, where every element of fabric would be carefully salvaged for re-use. At Chaveney Manor, for instance, the cruck blades (main structural timbers) supporting the major roof of the house were first fashioned from ancient felled oaks over 500 years ago, whilst the building on which they sit was erected some 250 years later.

As a result of its incremental and varied growth, much of the early history of the house is necessarily based on supposition and only the later development is more clearly evident. It should be made clear that the house never had Manorial Rights connected with it and the term Manor was most likely introduced to add status during the last Century.

I am particularly grateful to David Smith of Traveller Research Projects, for providing the archaeological background and much additional material relating to the building and to Roy Coley of Sowdens for permitting use of the archaeological report.

The Hall House (Pre 1450)

The earliest references to the Chaveney family are found in Nichols notes on Quorn. These indicate the presence of the family in both Quorn and Mountsorrel from the midfifteenth century, although there is no mention of any property. The first indication of the Chaveney's domestic arrangements can be found in the probate of Peter Chaveney (1670) and of Humphrey Chaveney (1688), where their residence is described as a schedule of rooms. This schedule is believed to relate to the site of the current house and provides the basis for assumptions made, relating to its early growth.

It is in the probate inventories that indications of the earliest structure first appear. In addition to apartments known to exist at the time, both inventories make reference to a 'Hall' with old, chamber(s) over. The precise location of the Hall is not certain, it may have been on the site of the main block of the current house fronting onto Chaveney Road or set back toward the rear on the site of the stairhall. My own view is that the earliest building stood to the East, with a recessed front on the line of the existing stone boundary wall, extending from the side of the current brick gable, across the drive and onto the site of the adjacent bungalow. This view is substantiated by the quality of external stonework and form of the, now internal chimney stack, evidence of an opening at ground floor on the current East gable and the external plaster treatment encountered on the wall which formed the original West elevation.

The Hall would originally have consisted of a main ground floor room, open to the rafters, possibly with a smaller space at one end for livestock and an upper chamber for the master's bedroom. The remainder of the household would have slept around a stone fireplace, probably at the East end of the Hall.

The building would have been of cruck frame construction, built off a low Mountsorrel granite and Barrow limestone plinth to keep the timber from direct contact with the damp ground. The panels between the main timbers were filled with wattle, woven around timber staves spanning between the horizontal rails. The whole panel was then plastered with daub, a mixture of clay, dung and horsehair. The roof would have been thatched with reed from a local watercourse or pond.

It is interesting to note that the elevation facing Chaveney Road was, until relatively recent times, the back of the house. The current 'front' door is a Victorian insertion. As with most early buildings, the basic needs of the occupants would have been for effective shelter and warmth.

Consequently, it is likely the more exposed North elevation onto Chaveney Road would havehad few windows and the main aspect of . the house would have faced South toward Charnwood Forest. It is likely that the entrance of the early house was also located here, with an original cart track approach, probably branching off Meeting Street, just after the site of the Baptist Church.

The Jettied Wing (Circa 1450)

Around the middle of the fifteenth century, the Chaveney family substantially improved the size and quality of their accommodation, by adding an important suite of rooms to the West of the original Hall. The social standing of the family was not insignificant and they clearly felt it necessary to have a residence to reflect their status, as well as provide additional space and comfort.

The form and construction of the new wing is of particular interest; it consisted of a timber, box-framed structure, perpendicular to the old Hall, with a substantial jettied gable facing Chaveney Road.

Jettied upper floors overhang the line of the floor below and were a major structural feat for timber framed construction. Their development arose from a shortage of space in the centre of congested towns, where the upper floors were cantilevered over the road to provide additional living space. It appears the practice became increasingly fashionable for timber framed construction, even when space was not restricted by plot size. The Chaveney family must have been particularly well heeled and fashion conscious to have opted for a new wing of this form at such an early date.

Evidence that the walls were close studded with wattle and daub infill, as the earlier Hall, can be seen in remnants of the frame still visible internally. To see a similar form of construction, look no further than the older, rear section of the Dower House on Station Road, which has close studded timber framing to the elevations. An even closer relative can be seen at the Leicester Castle Gateway, which Pevsner dates 1446-1447, and where close studding and a jettied upper floor are all in evidence.

The ground floor of the new wing contained two rooms of unequal size, with a full height first floor of two similar spaces and attics over. The considerable height of the ground floor ceilings implies that the main rooms were located here. The larger, front apartment was probably the parlour, with the smaller room to the rear a study. The rooms over would have been bedchambers for the master and his family. The original Hall would have accommodated service rooms, the kitchen and staff and may still have been used for social gatherings.

Originally, the new wing had just one chimney stack, built on the side wall. The attractive chimney to the rear of the building was probably constructed in the late 1600's to provide greater comfort in the secondary spaces. The form of the rear chimney is significant in emphasising the importance of the rear of the building as the main entrance front. The whole of the stack is carefully constructed and is surmounted by star-patterned brick flues. Star patterned flues are known to be uncommon in Leicestershire, although there is a preponderance of the type found in nearby Woodhouse. The prime purpose of such a decorative and complex form was to display the owner's wealth and social stature and to indicate to his visitors that he was a man of style with an eye for architectural high fashion.

External Refurbishment (Early 1600's)

In the early part of the seventeenth century, it appears the whole house underwent a significant overhaul. The works carried out included a new roof structure, to receive a heavier Swithland slate roof covering in lieu of the original thatch and, of particular interest, pargetting to the external walls.

Pargetting is a decorative patterning applied to an unbroken, weather protective plastering, passing over all the external timbers of the building. The plaster would have been of lime, spread over timber lathes, which were nailed onto the existing frame. Evidence of the practice is not at all common in Leicestershire at this early date and is even more rarely found on isolated farmhouses.

Anyone travelling down Meeting Street, away from the village centre at this time, must have been struck by the startling sight of a large, fully rendered building, with the very latest in modern roof coverings and a highly decorative geometric patterning formed on the wall surface. The type of patterning used has been recreated from fragments found on the original West wall of the jettied wing, in a fireside cupboard. Whilst providing evidence of the unusual patterning used, this find is also significant in identifying the current inner wall as once being the side elevation of the earlier house.

It would have been at this time that the star-flued chimney stack was added to the rear gable of the jettied wing, completing the creation of a dwelling of comfort and high fashion.

In the next issue of the Quorndon, Paul will conclude his description of the historical development of Chaveney Manor, bringing it through a major rebuilding programme, carried out in the 17th and 18th Centuries, up to the form of the building we see today.