Park Farmhouse

Details

TQ 64 NW CAPEL TUDELEY LANE (off), SOMERHILL PARK 1/301 Park Farmhouse

GV II

Farmhouse of the home farm of Somerhill, now part of the Hadlow Estate. Probably 1850, architect unknown to date. Framed construction on brick footings; tiled roof with bands of scalloped tiles; brick stacks. Vernacular Revival style, freely using elements of C17 traditional south east architecture.

Plan: Part of a designed Victorian farmstead with contemporary farmbuildings in a style to match the house. The layout of the group is picturesquely irregular and organized to look attractive as well as being functional. The house faces south, the west elevation overlooking the farm lane. It is sited south of and above the dairy, which is elaborately-detailed and the first building on the approach to the farmstead. Other buildings in the group are the turkey house to the east and a combination building including a milking parlour, sited to the south with a show front facing the farm lane which carries on past the group to the estate laundry. The farmhouse is roofed on a west east axis with gabled wings at right angles on the south side, overlooking the dairy.

Exterior: 2 storeys. Gabled roofs with deep eaves and moulded bargeboards to the gables. Multiple and clustered chimneyshafts, some octagonal, some diagonally-set, with corbelled brick cornices. Close-studded framing with diagonal braces, the gables more elaborately treated including curved braces. Asymmetrical 1:1 window entrance (north) elevation, gabled to the front at the right. Gabled porch to the left, the side walls timber-framed with sections of open balustrades with barleysugar balusters; porch seats. Original Tudor arched plank and cover strip front door. 2-light casement windows, some retaining their original glazing of square leaded panes. The first floor window in the main block, above the porch, is a gabled dormer. The west elevation, overlooking the farm lane, is particularly showy. The gable end of the main block, to the right, has a jettied gable with a moulded fascia to the jetty. Below the jetty a section of open balustrade with barleysugar balusters is supported on a projecting beam at first floor level. The beam, carried on curved braces has a moulded fascia. 2-light ground floor casement, the outer top corners of the timber frame ornamented with carved fleur-de-lis; carvings on the central mullion and below the sill. 2-light casement in the gable, both windows glazed with square leaded panes. The side elevation of the rear wing, set back to the left, is blind with a lateral stack and steps down to the cellar. The right (east) return of the main block has a Tudor arched doorway with an original door to the left and 2 2-light casements. Rear elevation in the same style with 3 gables to the north and a single- storey projection with a 2-span roof.

Interior: Not inspected but may retain original joinery and fireplaces.

George Devey was employed on the Somerhill Estate (information from Dr. Jill Allibone) although there is no documentary evidence known to date to connect him with Park Farm.

Listing NGR: TQ6157845026

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

437508

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 24 Kent,

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.