Church House

Details

TQ 67 41 BRENCHLEY HIGH STREET, BRENCHLEY (north side) 15/95 Church House 20.10.54 (previously listed as Church House and Church Cottage) GV II

House, incorporating a cottage which was formerly a separate property. Circa early/mid C17 origins, re-fronted in the early C18 with some C20 internal alterations. Main block framed construction, the front elevation clad in weatherboarding, chamfered and grooved in imitation of rusticated stone, the right return tile-hung. The adjoining cottage is brick on the ground floor, first floor tile-hung over framing. Peg-tile roofs; stacks with brick shafts.

Plan: The main block faces south, directly on to the road, the cottage forms a rear right (north east) wing, fronting Windmill Hill giving an overall L- plan. The main block is 3-rooms wide, the 2 left hand rooms heated from back- to-back fireplaces in an axial stack, the right end room unheated. It probably originally had a lobby entrance facing the stack. The C18 re- fronting involved moving the front door to right of centre, directly into the right hand heated room. A C20 stair rises from the rear of this room, within the rear right cottage wing. Flat-roofed single-storey C20 addition to the rear left (north west) of the main block. The cottage is probably C18 or earlier in origin with 2 axial stacks, it may have functioned as the service wing to the C18 house.

Exterior: 2 storeys and attic. Handsome asymmetrical 4-bay front with a parapet on paired brackets. C18 front door with 4 fielded panels in the first bay from the right (east) with a fanlight with spoke glazing bars and a gabled porch hood on moulded brackets. Disused panelled door at the extreme left end. 3 ground floor tripartite horned sashes in C18 openings, 6 panes over one in the centre, 2 over one in the outer lights. 3 first floor 16-pane horned sashes with a 12-pane horned sash above the front door. All the windows have moulded architraves. The roof is half-hipped, the axial stack has a moulded cornice. The right return of the main block, overlooking Windmill Hill, has one attic window, a probably C18 3-light casement with square leaded panes and a first floor 12-pane sash. Beyond the main block the cottage wing has 2 ground floor windows, one 3-light C20 casement and one probably C18 3-light casement with square leaded panes and a large first floor circa early C20 gabled dormer with a 3-tier window.

Interior: Exposed carpentry with evidence of repair and re-use of timbers. The left hand heated room has a C17 fireplace with jambs of large sandstone blocks and a chamfered lintel. Exposed carpentry in most of the first floor rooms of the main block. Circa early C19 stick baluster stair to the attic.

Roof: Timbers concealed by plaster.

Church House occupies a crucial position in an outstanding village, sited opposite the church and on a prominent corner site.

Listing NGR: TQ6796241806

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

431805

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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