Summary
Hall house, originally built in the C15 with a cross-wing added in the C16. A barn was constructed to the south-east in the C16 or C17 and two oasthouses added in about the mid-C19. These were joined to the hall house via a link-range built in the mid-to-late C20, which is of lesser interest.
Reasons for Designation
Old Swaylands, Penshurst, Kent, a C15 Wealden hall house with a cross-wing, barn and two oast houses added between the C16 and C19, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a large complex of predominantly C15 to C17 timber-framed buildings which survive well with a substantial amount of original timberwork, including a hall house and cross wing which are among the best-preserved timber-framed buildings of their period;
* the C15 hall house displays a high level of craftsmanship and construction, including an arch-braced timber frame, daub panels and Tudor-arched doorway visible externally, and an impressive roof structure with an octagonal crown post with a moulded base and cap marking the high status of the hall internally;
* the C16 close-studded cross-wing also has high quality timberwork with a jetty on three sides supported by substantial dragon beams, a Tudor arched doorway and a crown post roof, whilst the C16 or C17 barn retains much of its post and truss frame, including several jowled posts and a curved down brace;
Historic interest:
* as a former Wealden hall house and farm, which demonstrates over 500 years of history and development from the C15 onwards to include a cross-wing, barn and two oast houses.
History
Old Swaylands was originally built as a hall house in the C15. Hall houses in Kent were predominantly built by wealthy yeomanry, following the tradition of halls built by kings or manorial lords for banqueting and holding court. However, for the yeomen the hall was used for everyday meals and planning farming activities with their families and the servants that made up their households. Harris outlines the basic form and suggests that English timber framing may have reached its zenith in the construction of open halls (2012, 31). Hall houses were typically entered from a passage running between a pair of opposing doorways. On one side of the passage would be the service accommodation at the lower end of the house; the buttery and pantry. A screen divided this accommodation from the hall, which usually had a central hearth and open fire with smoke passing up through the rafters of the roof. At the ‘upper’ end of the hall was the high table, where the owner sat on a bench, possibly on a dais. A door at this end of the hall would lead through to the solar or private apartments. Hence, the hall was a hierarchical space with the servants at one end and the yeoman at the other. The central open truss was given particular attention by carpenters and could be carved with mouldings facing the upper end of the hall as a mark of status.
In the C16, a cross-wing was added to the north of the hall house, constructed of close-studded timber with a continuous jetty on three sides. It may have been at about this time, or in the C17, that the hall was fully floored over. A ground floor room was later added at the rear (south-west side) of the hall which was extended by continuing the roof to form a catslide or lean-to.
In around the C16 or C17, a barn with a post and truss timber frame was built to the south-east of the hall. The combination of the clasped-purlin roof, which is half-hipped at the ends, the jowled posts and the curved down brace at the west corner of the barn appears indicative of a C16 or earlier C17 date. However, the frame was only partially visible during inspection and it incorporates reused and replacement timbers. The roof has undergone repair, and possibly some reconstruction, perhaps in the C18 and later. A first floor and casement windows were inserted into the barn in about the mid-to-late C20.
The 1838 tithe map shows the house and barn marked as ‘Seer Lands’. It was used as a farm and the landowner was Martin William and the occupier Thomas Colgate. The tithe apportionment records: ‘[a] farmhouse, yards, buildings, & garden’ as well as an ‘upper orchard’, ‘coal pit field’, ‘barn field’, ‘great honey field’, ‘2 cottages shed & gardens’, and ‘bushy field shaw & ponds’, among several other fields, including pasture, arable, hops and woodland.
In about the mid-C19, two oast houses were built immediately to the south of the timber-framed barn; the oast houses are not shown on the tithe map but first appear on the 1869 OS map. The hall house was converted into two cottages (including ‘Swale Cottage’) before being returned to a single dwelling in about 1930. The conversion involved the removal of a dormer window and the former cat-slide or lean-to at the rear (south-west) of the hall to expose the timber frame and daub panels on one side of the central chimney stack (Ferguson 1932). On the other side of the stack two windows were removed to form one very large double-height window. A chimney to the north wing was heavily leaning and therefore re-built. Internally, the first floor over the hall was removed and the ceiling opened up to the roof. In addition, the floorboards over the ground were removed to reveal a dark red brick floor and the beams and wood taken from the floor were reused to form a gallery with a balustrade. Central heating was also installed and several of the windows repaired, replaced or inserted. A single-storey link range was built onto the south-east side of the hall, joining it to the barn and oast houses. This range was widened and heightened in about the late C20 and large window and door openings were inserted into the oast houses.
Details
Hall house, originally built in the C15 with a cross-wing added in the C16. A barn was constructed to the south-east in the C16 or C17 and two oasthouses added in about the mid-C19. These were joined to the hall house via a link-range built in the mid-to-late C20, which is of lesser interest.
MATERIALS: a timber-framed hall house with large daub panels and a close-studded cross-wing, both with stone and brick chimneys and red tile roof coverings. The barn is timber-framed with weatherboarding to the exterior and a tiled roof whilst the oast houses are constructed of squared stone with conical tiled roofs. The link range is built of brick and stone, partly rendered with mock timber-framing.
PLAN: the C15 hall house has a central hall open to the roof, a cross passage and service end at the north-west, now occupied by a study and a bathroom accessed via a gallery, and the former solar at the south-west, now occupied by a lounge, dining room and bedroom. The C16 cross-wing leads off the cross passage and now has a lounge to the ground floor and bedroom to the first floor. Attached via a C20 link range is the C16 or C17 barn which is divided into three main rooms on each floor, and also the mid-C19 oast houses.
EXTERIORS: the buildings are now joined to form one long continuous composition orientated north-west to south-east, comprising: the C15 hall-house and C16 cross-wing at the north-west, a central link-range and then the C16 or C17 barn and mid-19 oast houses at the south-east. The main (north-east) elevation of the hall house has an exposed timber frame with arch bracing and large daub panels. There are three casement windows to the ground and first floors, variously of two, three or four diamond-leaded lights, and a Tudor arched doorway containing a re-used stable door with wrought-iron strap hinges. Several of the lower panels are infilled with a stone plinth. The north-west elevation has a gabled dormer to the roof, a six-light casement to the first floor and then two casement windows to the ground floor which was re-built in brick in about 1930 when the corbelled chimney stack was also rebuilt or replaced. The south-west elevation has exposed arch-braced framing at the north-west where there is a two-light casement to the first floor and a six-light casement and Tudor arched doorway containing a half-glazed boarded door to the ground floor, and then a substantial brick chimney and a double-height 1930s window of nine diamond-leaded lights to the south-east. There are ridge gablets to the hipped roof.
Attached to the north end of the hall house is the C16 cross-wing, which is built on a stone plinth. It is constructed of close-studded timber with a continuous jetty on three sides showing exposed joists and dragon beams to the corners. The south-east front has a Tudor arched doorway with a moulded wooden doorhead and wrought-iron strap hinges, and then two and three light casement windows to the ground floor and a five-light casement window to the first floor. In the north-east elevation there are two casement windows whilst to the north-west elevation is a substantial stone and brick chimney and two casements to each floor. It is covered by a red tiled hipped roof with ridge gablets.
The mid-C20 link range was heightened and widened in the late C20 and is of lesser interest. It is built of brick and stone, which is partly rendered with mock timber-framing under tiled roofs and two brick chimney stacks. The north-east elevation has a two-light casement window and gabled porch. On the south-west side there are two three-light casements and a glazed French doorway to a mock timber-framed range with three dormer windows, and then a single-storey brick extension containing square-leaded casement windows with concrete cills. The windows to this range all have square-leaded lights in contrast to the predominantly diamond-leaded lights of the hall house and cross-wing.
The C16 or C17 barn has a weather-boarded exterior concealing the timber frame and a half-hipped tiled roof. The north-east elevation is of four bays and has, from left to right: a C20 garage door, a C20 timber-boarded door and then two three-light casements to the ground floor, and four casement windows to the first floor. In the south-east end there is a C20 timber-boarded door and small fixed window to the ground floor and two casement windows to the first floor. A weather-boarded first-floor link with a casement window joins an oasthouse at the south. The windows each have square-leaded lights.
The oast houses are constructed of squared stone with conical tiled roofs and have had casement windows and French door openings inserted into the original walls. The French doors are mid- to late C20 additions.
INTERIORS: the entrance door of the hall house leads into the central hall, which is open to the roof. It has a substantial arch-braced tie-beam and an octagonal crown post, with a moulded base and cap, supporting a crown plate or collar purlin. A small stone and brick fireplace is set into the south-west wall of the hall. At the north-west end of the hall is a gallery added in about 1930, which leads up to a first-floor bathroom, with modern sanitary ware*, fixtures and fittings*, above a study below it. The study has a 1930s Tudor arched fireplace. At the south-east end of the hall, separated by a timber-framed screen with daub panels, there is now a dining room and a lounge to the ground floor containing a modern wood burner*, and a bedroom to the first floor. The cross-wing has a small bathroom with modern sanitary ware* and a sitting room to the ground floor containing a large inglenook fireplace with a modern wood burner*. The first floor retains its historic wooden flooring and there is a bedroom with a small brick fireplace, which is open to a crown-post roof structure. There are wooden-boarded doors with wooden latches and bolts throughout.
Adjoining the former hall house is the link range built in about 1930 and heightened and widened in the late C20; this range is of lesser interest. The ground floor of this range includes a kitchen, breakfast room and bathroom, whilst the first floor has a bedroom and two bathrooms, all with modern fixtures and fittings*. There is mock and re-used timber beams to the ceiling of the kitchen. The C16 or C17 barn has timber framing exposed to several rooms, revealing jowled posts and an arched brace, and a clasped-purlin roof structure. There is a garage, store room and music room to the ground floor and three bedrooms and two bathrooms to the first floor largely containing modern fixtures and fittings*. The adjoining oast houses each have a room to each floor largely with modern fixtures and fittings*.
EXCLUSIONS
* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest. However, any works to these features which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require Listed Building Consent (LBC) and this is a matter for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to determine.
