Building record 0030001000 - THE SAVAY (SAVAY FARM)

Plan Form - H SHAPED
THE SAVOY (NOW SAVAY) IS OF 2 STOREYS, TIMBER-FRAMED WITH BRICK FILLING. EXISTING WORK SHOWS SIZE OF GREAT HALL (BUILT C14), WITHOUT AISLES, WAS AT LEAST 11M BY 4.7M. SOUTH OR SOLAR WING ADDED ?END C14. APPARENTLY ONLY EXAMPLE OF AISLED GREAT HALL IN SOUTH BUCKS. [DETAILED DESCRIPTION, PHOTO & PLAN] (B3).
?BUILT BY THOS.DURDENT (B2).
Grade I. C14 hall house altered. First floor inserted C16. Timber frame and red brick nogging with old tile roof. H-plan. Two storeys. Windows, modern leaded lights. C15 door with battens and strap hinges. Late C14 south-west gable oversailing on brackets and exposed corbels, tympanum cement rendered with exposed timbers. North-west modern wing similar but not oversailing. Interior: C16 mural achievement in south half of hall; first floor has two 4-centred arches at head of north-east staircase, tie-beam and king post in south-west room; murals over south-west part of further hall, dated 1606 representing second chapter of Exodus with characters in Jacobean costume. A few pieces of old stained glass set in windows. Three cast iron firebacks, 2 C16 (one dated 1558) and one Carolean. On left-hand one-storey building extends from front. Stock brick; old tile roof; open end nearest to house, opening filled with 4 wooden Roman Doric columns, entablature. Inside along back wall timber gallery. RCHM I, pp 116-118; VCH III, p256 (B4).
A fine example of a medieval timber-framed house containing well preserved mural paintings. Surviving wall paintings include: the remains of a shield with coat of arms in a wreath, on the E wall of the hall; a black-letter inscription on an arch soffitt in the hall; traces of painted ornament on the west side of a recess in the drawing room; biblical and other scenes with the figures in Jacobean costume, dated 1606, and including a figure probably representing James I, on the S and E walls in a first floor room over the hall (B3).


(TQ 04688805) Savay Farm (NAT) (B10).
The original manor house of Durdent Denham was probably built by Thomas Durdent in 1327 with additions over the years from the 14th-17th centuries (B11).
The moat is partly natural. Savay Farm, a large private residence in excellent condition; a good but not outstanding example of its time. The moat has been completely filled in without trace. Published 1:2500 survey revised (B12).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.