Summary
Former farmhouse. Possibly medieval or C16 origins but the current house was largely built from around 1600 in four main phases during the C17. Refurbishment and alterations in the C18 and C19. A cottage was added to the north in 1894 to 1897 and extended prior to 1908. Extensions and internal alterations in the 1980s and 1990s.
Reasons for Designation
The Old Farmhouse, 2 Gardeners Cottage and The Gables, an early C17 farmhouse with adjoining late-C19 cottage (The Gables) at Style Place Farm, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a farmhouse of possibly medieval or C16 origins, largely (re)built from around 1600 onwards in four main phases during the C17 to form a lobby-entry central-chimney house that illustrates the complex evolution of this vernacular building type;
* for the substantial proportion of good surviving timberwork dating largely from around 1600 onwards, including a diamond mullion window, large panels, close studding, chamfered joists and axial beams to the ceilings, a late C17 or early C18 winder staircase, jowled principal posts to a cross-wing, and several clasped purlin roof structures;
* for the late C19 development in association with the brewery, including the extension and refurbishment of the farmhouse and the construction of the cottage (The Gables), probably for the brewery manager, to match the C18 main façade of the farmhouse with its good quality brickwork incorporating decorative burnt headers and rubbed brick voussoirs.
Historic interest:
* a vernacular farmhouse which demonstrates over 400 years of development with a cottage added in the late C19 in association with its significant later history as a brewery.
Group value:
* for the considerable degree of group value with the Grade II-listed buildings at Style Place Farm associated with the farm, such as the C17 barn and stables, and the C19 brewery operation, such as the maltings, oasthouse, animal house, water tower, and fermenting rooms.
History
Style Place Farm was owned by the Causton family in the early C15, according to one source, which states that the family name later became Caxton (Wade 1988, 2). It has thus been suggested that the farm was the birthplace of William Caxton (born between 1415-1422, died 1492), the medieval printer, merchant and diplomat who brought the printing press to England but this is uncertain (Ibid, 2). Deeds of partition for 1443 and 1512 refer to the manors of Cronkbury and Causton in Hadlow and in 1616 the manor of Causton was used as a court by William Dixon to record the death of a tenant (Ibid, 2). It continued as a farmstead, evident by the house, barn (C17, Grade II-listed, List entry No 1237154) and stables (C17, Grade II-listed, No 1070445), and was labelled the ‘Manor of Caustons’ on John Quested’s map of the area of 1835.
The Old Farmhouse and 2 Gardeners Cottages were originally a single property; an L-shaped timber-framed farmhouse built in several phases, largely in the C17 although it has been suggested that it may have originated as a medieval hall house (Ibid, 14). An adjoining cottage was added in the 1890s, which is now known as The Gables. The main part of the farmhouse is orientated broadly north-south and formed of two ranges of different date, whilst attached to the east are two parallel rear cross-wings. The earliest substantive surviving built fabric is the queen-post range forming the northern half of the farmhouse built from around 1600 and now a separate dwelling addressed 2 Gardeners Cottages. The timber framing to this range shows evidence of diamond mullion windows. It had at least two chambers on each floor. A winder stair at the north end with a teardrop-shaped newel finial was added in about the late C17 or early C18. The roof structure of this range was not inspected but is recorded as having clasped side purlins supported by queen posts and tie beam trusses. The range that forms the southern half of the farmhouse appears to have been built from about the mid to late C17 and may have replaced a medieval hall with service end in this location (see Wade 1988, 14). The roof structure was not inspected but is recorded as a staggered butt purlin roof. The construction of this half of the farmhouse probably coincided with the erection of the huge central chimney stack, creating one large lobby entry house. It would have included four rooms on the ground floor of the two combined ranges (probably, from north to south: an unheated chamber, a parlour, a kitchen and another unheated chamber), in addition to the rear wings which are one room deep (see below).
The southernmost rear cross wing was built broadly around the same time as the queen-post range forming the northern half of the farmhouse in the early C17. It is built with a ragstone plinth and appears to have originally had large timber-framed panels. These panels are nogged with early brickwork. The roof was largely rebuilt in the C20 but the gable end truss indicates that it may originally have been similar to that of the queen-post range. The parallel northernmost cross wing is timber-framed with large jowled posts and a clasped purlin roof with queen struts and dates to about the C17. Both of these rear wings also have later brick infill or facing and the upper portions are clad in red peg-tile. In the C18, the farmhouse appears to have been refurbished, with much replacement timberwork, and the west front refaced in red brick laid in Flemish bond with decorative use of burnt headers, uniting the façade. Further buildings were added in red brick elsewhere on the farm and the stables extended.
In 1832, Henry Simmons started a brewery at Style Place Farm, which led to further alterations and additions to the farm. These included several C19 buildings which are now Grade II-listed such as a maltings (List Entry No 1237143), oasthouse (No 1237143), animal house (No 1264249), piggeries ((demolished) pigs consuming the brewery by-product, spent barley), a water tower (No 1264249), and fermenting rooms (‘The Clockhouse’, No 1237143) set behind the farmhouse. It has been suggested part of the loft of the farmhouse may have been used for grain storage due to evidence for low daub walls in this part of the house (Wade 1988, 14). The Simmons family went into partnership with William Martin in 1852 and the brewery became known as Martin and Simmons, which by 1863 had 13 outlets. During the 1880’s there was considerable expansion. A master brewer’s house was built and an artesian well dug to a depth of 870 feet; described as the deepest artesian bored tube well in South East England, penetrating the Thames aquifer (see www.breweryhistory.com). The late C19 expansion of the brewery may have coincided with the refurbishment and extension of the farmhouse. A hall passage containing a straight flight staircase was put through from the kitchen to the south end of the house, a chimney stack inserted, and a new single-storey office and porch built on the south end. At the north end of the farmhouse, a cottage was added between 1894 and 1897 with brickwork replicating the west front of the farmhouse. It was probably a cottage for the brewery manager and is now a dwelling known as The Gables. The brewery was prospering in the late C19 and a master brewer’s house (Style Place) had been built at around the same time. In around the 1890s William Simmons operated the business, Henry Samway was managing brewer and George Simmons the maltman. A blocked opening with fielded side panels in the north end of the west wall of the farmhouse indicates there was originally a doorway providing internal link access between the cottage and farmhouse (nothing of this opening is visible within The Gables but it has been heavily refurbished from the 1980s onwards); according to one source the doorway was blocked up in 1984 (Pers.Comm, 17 Aug 23). The cottage had been extended at the rear by 1908.
Style Place Farm was bought by the Maidstone brewery of Style and Winch in 1905 which closed the brewery operation to reduce the number of outlets. The buildings subsequently reverted to agricultural use and a carpenter’s workshop. The Gables was extended to the rear in around 1980. Several of the windows to The Gables and the farmhouse were replaced in uPVC at around that time. Internal alterations were also made to the farmhouse; a kitchen being placed in the northernmost cross-wing. A historical appraisal of the farm was carried out in 1988 and a photographic survey was undertaken on 2 July 1990 (see Sources). In the early 1990s, Style Place Farm was redeveloped, many of the former brewery buildings converted to dwellings, the farmhouse and other buildings refurbished, and the whole site renamed ‘Caxton Place’. The Gables was extended with a new rear cross-wing in the 1990s and the earlier cross-wing, which had been extended in around 1980, was altered or rebuilt, and other alterations carried out to the cottage, including the replacement of the uPVC windows with timber sash windows with exposed sash boxes. In 2002, a single-storey addition was further added to the rear of the cottage.
Details
Former farmhouse. Possibly medieval or C16 origins but the current house was largely built from around 1600 in four main phases during the C17. Refurbishment and alterations in the C18 and C19. A cottage was added to the north in 1894 to 1897 and extended prior to 1908. Extensions and internal alterations in the 1980s and 1990s.
MATERIALS: the farmhouse originally consisted of four timber-framed ranges of different phases; the walls subsequently infilled and/or refaced in red brick to the ground floor and peg-tile to the first floor. However, the entire front elevation was faced in red brick laid in Flemish bond with decorative use of burnt headers in the C18. There is matching brickwork to the late-C19 cottage and there are red peg-tile roof coverings to all the ranges.
PLAN: an L-plan farmhouse of two storeys with attics. Built in four main phases during the C17. The main part of the farmhouse, orientated north-south, comprises a north queen-post range built in around 1600 and a south range built in about the mid- to late C17. The queen-post range may possibly have C16 origins, as indicated by diamond mullion mortices, and the south range may have replaced a medieval hall (see above). The combined ranges subsequently formed one long lobby entry central chimney house. On the ground floor this probably included, from north to south: an unheated room, a parlour, a kitchen and another unheated room, whilst on the first floor there were several chambers. Attached to the east side of the house are two parallel C17 rear cross-wings; each one room deep. The farmhouse was later divided into two properties, known as The Old Farmhouse and 2 Gardeners Cottage, whilst a cottage was built adjoining the north end of the farmhouse in the late C19 and is now known as The Gables.
EXTERIORS: the main west front of the farmhouse is five bays long; four bays of the original two-storey central chimney house and a late C19 single-storey gabled extension forming an additional fifth bay at the south. It comprises, from left to right: a three-light multi-pane uPVC window to each floor, a hooded doorcase beneath a 16-pane uPVC window, and then three-light multi-pane uPVC windows to each floor of the next two bays followed by a 16-pane uPVC window to the single-storey extension. The windows are set in square-headed openings with rubbed brick voussoirs. The front doorcase has a false Regency-style fanlight and moulded pilasters supporting a flat hood on shaped consoles. It contains a C19 six-panelled door with glazed upper panels. The roof is hipped to the north and carried down over a later outshot, and half hipped to the south. An enormous red brick chimney rises above the centre of the farmhouse. The 1890s cottage is attached to the north-west corner of the farmhouse (see below). The upper portion of the south elevation of the farmhouse and rear cross-wing is faced in peg-tile. It comprises: a six-over-six timber sash window with side lights to the gable end of the single-storey office; a C19 three-panelled door to the porch; and then two two-light windows to the ground floor and a single-light window to the first floor of the outer rear cross-wing, which is set on a ragstone plinth. The east elevation of this cross-wing has large timber-framed panels filled with brick noggin, a later door opening inserted to the ground floor, a three-light uPVC window to the first floor and two-light timber window to the attic. The adjacent cross-wing has a C20 doorway and a three-light uPVC window to the ground floor and a two-light casement window to the first floor. The north end of the east elevation of the farmhouse now serves as the garden front to 2 Gardeners Cottages. There are two 16-pane uPVC windows and a wooden doorway to the ground floor and two uPVC windows to the tile-hung first floor. Attached to the north end is a later outshot and chimney stack.
The 1890s cottage, now known as The Gables, that adjoins the north end of the farmhouse has its main front facing south and largely matching the treatment of the main façade of the farmhouse, although the elevation rises higher. It is two bays long and two storeys high and built of red brick laid in Flemish bond with decorative use of burnt headers and a brick plinth. There is an eight-over-eight timber sash window and half-glazed door to the ground floor and two six-over-six timber sashes to the first floor. The windows are set in square-headed openings with rubbed brick voussoirs and the doorway contains a semi-circular fanlight. It has a gabled peg-tile covered roof. At the west gable end of the cottage, which was altered in the early 1990s, is a central chimney stack flanked by narrow 1990s four-over-four timber sashes to each floor. There are two gabled cross-wings attached to the rear of the cottage; one initially added in the 1900s but subsequently rebuilt/altered in around 1980 and the 1990s, and another newly built in the 1990s. These cross-wings are built of brick with a tile facing to the first floor. The west cross-wing has two eight-over-eight timber sashes to each floor. The east elevation of each cross-wing is blank (without any openings) but there is a further single-storey 2002 gabled extension projecting from the easternmost wing which has sash windows and a half-glazed doorway. There are further sashes to the south elevation of the easternmost cross-wing.
INTERIORS: the former farmhouse is now divided into two properties addressed 2 Gardeners Cottage and The Old Farmhouse. The main entrance on the west front leads into the queen-post range that forms the northern half of the farmhouse, now 2 Gardeners Cottage. This was the former lobby entrance situated next to the central chimney of the house. There were probably two chambers on this floor: the former parlour, now a lounge, and an unheated room, now a kitchen, which are divided by large panelling set on a plinth. The former parlour has large chamfered joists with step stops to the ceiling joined into a substantial axial beam. There is an inglenook fireplace with a chamfered bressummer beam. The former unheated end room has a chamfered and step-stopped axial beam that may once have been the head beam of a partition. Most of the north external wall has been removed and the modern kitchen extends into the later outshot on this side of the house. However, the close-set infilled slots or mortices for the wooden diamond mullions of a former window can be seen in the end beam. The kitchen contains early C21 fixtures* and units*, and a small water closet with early C21 sanitary ware* leads off it. A doorway with fielded side panels appears to have originally led into the adjacent cottage, added in the 1890s, but has been blocked and converted into a bookcase. Next to the end room is a late C17 or early C18 winder stair with a balustrade to the landing which has a facetted teardrop-shaped finial. At the top of the stairs large panelling and studding can be seen to the end wall and includes the wide-set wooden diamond mullions of a former window. There are now two bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor. The main bedroom has a chamfered and scroll-stopped axial beam and contains a fireplace with a register grate. The bathroom contains early C21 sanitary ware* but within a cupboard can be seen a daub wall. There are a number of modern radiators* throughout.
The entrance to the mid- to late C17 range forming the southern half of the farmhouse, now called The Old Farmhouse, is via the late-C19 porch at the south which leads to the ground floor corridor and staircase. Also opening off the porch is a late-C19 office, which contains a plain segmental-headed brick fireplace and exposed chimney stack. There were originally two rooms in this range; the former kitchen, now a drawing room, and an unheated room, now a dining room. The former kitchen has a stone-paved floor and a large inglenook fireplace with a bressummer beam to the central chimney, which also contains a bread oven. The joists to the ceiling are joined to a substantial plain chamfered axial beam. There are a number of late C20 and early C21 fixtures* and sanitary ware* on this floor of the house and those above. A C19 straight-flight staircase leads up to the first floor of this range where there are two bedrooms and a bathroom. There are several plank and batten doors within the farmhouse which may date back as early as the C17. The southernmost rear cross-wing now has a sitting room and utility room leading off a stone-paved passageway. The sitting room has a ceiling with square joists morticed into a large plain-chamfered axial beam supported by iron columns. The original stone plinth and some of the large square panelling is visible to the walls. On the first floor a corridor leads to a modern bathroom and a bedroom where there is exposed framing with studding to one of the walls and an exposed ceiling with an axial beam and joists. A winder stair above the main staircase leads to the attic of this wing where there is more exposed framing, early daub partitions, and a replaced C20 roof structure. The northernmost rear cross-wing now contains a modern kitchen but there is some exposed timber framing to the ground floor and a bedroom and modern bathroom to the first floor. There are jowled principal posts to the first floor and a clasped purlin roof structure with queen struts.
The cottage known as The Gables is one room deep to the main range and two rooms deep to each of the later extensions. The main entrance leads into a hallway adjacent to a sitting room, which contains a modern brick fireplace* with a wood burner*. There is a dining room, office, kitchen, bathroom and utility room to the rear extensions with late C20 or early C21 units*, fixtures* and sanitary ware*. A reproduction winder staircase* with a turned newel post, stick balusters and a moulded handrail leads up to the first floor where there are four bedrooms and a bathroom, which also have late C20 or early C21 fixtures* and sanitary ware*.
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.
