Summary
C18 former oast house with probable early-C19 additions, now converted to two residential units and adjoining stables.
Reasons for Designation
Ash Manor Oast and The Oast House, formerly part of Manor Farm, Ash Green, Surrey are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a former C18 oast and store, an important regional buidling type, with a range of C19 loose boxes to the east.
Historic interest:
* as part of a farmstead associated with Ash Manor, a moated site with medieval origins.
Group value:
* with Oak Barn (Grade II), Ash Manor and Old Manor Cottage (both listed at Grade II*).
History
Originally an oast house, the building is now divided into two houses: Ash Manor Oast, and The Oast House. The oast house formed part of the farm associated with Ash Manor, known as Manor Farm. It dates from the C18, with probable early-C19 additions, including the loose boxes.
The site of Ash Manor is believed to have been occupied since the C13, at which time it was owned by Chertsey Abbey. At the Dissolution it became the property of the Crown and in the late 1540s was granted to St Mary’s College Winchester (Winchester College) which owned it for nearly 400 years.
C19 maps of Ash Manor show the agricultural buildings associated with the farm arranged around a courtyard to the south of the main house (which is listed Grade II*). The south end of the oast house, with its adjoining stables at right angles, forms the north end of the courtyard. On the south side of the courtyard is a barn, probably dating from the C16 (listed Grade II). The rest of the south side of the courtyard, and the east side have now been lost.
Winchester College sold Ash Manor in 1925, and it was sold again in 1934 to Maurice Kelly of Kelly’s Directories. Following Kelly’s bankruptcy and suicide in 1948, the house was divided into two and both were sold on. The farm buildings remained in agricultural use until their conversion in the late C20. A photograph of the oast house taken prior to its conversion shows its west and north elevations. The upper part of the kiln is blind, and there are a small number of irregularly sized and placed windows on the ground floor and in the lean-to. In the store adjacent to the kiln is a large central opening, a first-floor loading-bay door and a dormer window.
Details
C18 former oast house with probable early-C19 additions, now two residential units and adjoining stables.
MATERIALS: the building is of red brick construction with clay tiled roofs, windows are timber casements and are of C20 date. The stables are part brick, part timber-framed clad in dark stained weatherboard.
PLAN: the former oast has two principal parts: the kiln to the north, which is rectangular in plan with a pyramidal roof, and a two-storey, three-bay range to the south which would have been used for storage. Within the storage range is a pair of large openings, probably originally intended for carts, now used as garaging. To the north of the kiln is a brick lean-to extension which is a later, possibly C19, addition.
Ash Manor Oast occupies the oast kiln and one of the three bays of the store, its principal elevation is to the west, with the main entrance in the kiln. The Oast House occupies the remaining two bays of the store, with its main entrance facing south. Each house has one of the two cart openings which face west.
The original interior layout of the building is not known but is likely to have been relatively open within the separate spaces of the kiln, which would have been laterally divided by a drying floor, and the two-storey store. The internal arrangement now is subdivided into rooms, reflective of domestic use.
EXTERIOR: the west elevation of the kiln has a central doorway with an open-fronted, pitch-roofed brick and timber porch. Both the kiln and store have a number of window openings, which, like the door and porch, were inserted at the time of its conversion. In some cases however earlier openings have been reused, including the remodelling of the first-floor loading bay in the store into a dormer window, and the rebuilding of the adjacent dormer. Additional dormer windows have been added to the kiln and at the far end of the store. The roof of the kiln is topped with two square timber cowls. These were rebuilt as part of the conversion and have been rebuilt again since.
At ground floor the west elevation turns to the south with a radial corner. The south elevation has a gable end with a brick-banded verge, and a brick band beneath a pair of small round-headed louvered openings at the top of the gable. At the centre of the elevation is the main door to The Oast House, which is surrounded by porch similar to that on the west elevation at Ash Manor Oast. There are three windows, all of which appear to be later insertions.
In the east (rear) elevation of Ash Manor Oast are further inserted windows, a dormer in the kiln roof, and a late-C20 timber conservatory on a brick plinth. The east (flank) elevation of The Oast House is largely blind, and is adjoined by the stables, which form a range running eastwards.
INTERIOR: some of the structure of the various roofs is visible, including that of the lean-to to the north of the kiln. However, generally the interiors and finishes are all of late-C20 date, with no visible evidence of earlier fabric. There later finishes and internal subdivisions do not contribute to the special interest of the building.
STABLES: the stables are probably of late C18 or early C19 date (with some later fabric) and take the form of a run of six loose boxes. The back (north) wall is of brick but otherwise the structure is timber-framed, clad in weatherboard, with a tiled roof. The roof trusses have curved raked queen struts carrying the purlins and there is a ridge piece at the apex. The timbers are un-squared and some have carpenters’ marks. The wall-framing between each bay is generally formed of planked infill. The surface which runs in front of the loose-boxes is concrete, however where this has failed, brick setts are visible beneath.
