Wacton

84 WACTON (C.b.)

(O.S. 6 in. XX, N.E.)

Wacton is a small parish 3 m. N. W. of Bromyard.

Ecclesiastical

(1). Church (dedication unknown) stood near the middle of the parish and immediately E. of Wacton Court. It was pulled down, except for the lower part of the walls, in 1881. The walls are of local sandstone rubble with some dressings of the same material. They are standing, on the average, about 5 ft. high and give little or no indication of the date of the structure, which, however, can hardly be earlier than the 13th century.

Architectural Description—The Church (64½ ft. by 11¼ ft.) has walls about 2½ ft. thick, much obscured by rubbish and growth. Near the E. end of the S. wall are the lower jambs and sill of a two-light window of the 14th or 15th century.

Fittings—Now at Bredenbury. Font: in churchyard—round bowl of tub-form, mediæval. Plate: includes cup (Plate 69) of 1601 with baluster-stem and a cover-paten inscribed with the date 1615.

Condition—Ruined.

Secular

(2). Mound (Plate 3), probably motte, about 80 yards N. of Wacton Court, is of oval form with remains of a ditch. The mound is about 26 yards across the axis and rises about 12 ft. above the bottom of the ditch.

Condition—Fairly good.

(3). Wacton Court, house and moat, immediately W. of the ruined church. The House is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. The N. block was built early in the 17th century and the S. wing is a modern rebuilding. The windows on the E. and W. sides have plain square labels and inside the building are exposed ceiling-beams.

The Moat formerly surrounded the house. There are remains of other enclosures to the E. and N.

Condition—Of house, good.

(4). Butterley Court, 600 yards N.N.W. of the church, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and timber-framing and the roofs are tiled. There was probably a mediæval house on the site, but the existing building dates mainly from c. 1600. The W. wing is an 18th-century addition. Inside the building are some exposed ceiling-beams and a passage is lined with mid 17th-century panelling. Towards the E. end of the N. wing is part of an early roof, with smoke-blackened timbers, incorporated in the later structure.

Condition—Bad.

(5). Great Wacton, house, ½ m. S.E. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble, brick and timber-framing and the roofs are tiled. It was built early in the 17th century and has a later 17th-century wing on the S.W. The timber-framing is partly exposed. Inside the building are some original moulded ceiling-beams and a moulded door-frame.

Condition—Good.