Description

425365 MILL LANE
(WEST SIDE)
SE4450110842 ARDEN FARMHOUSE

II

Former farmhouse, now house, 1755 with later additions.

MATERIALS: coursed squared sandstone with C20 pantiles to main roof, stone slates to rear wing.

PLAN: The two-storey house has a central entrance and stairway with a single room to either side. To the rear is a lower two-storey single-depth section with an adjoining workshop behind. Chimney stacks are at each gable end and at the rear end of the first rear wing.

EXTERIOR: The front elevation has a central doorway with a large triple keystone, the centre fluted. There are square, two-light casement windows to each side with plain surrounds and a single-light stair window above the door. Below this is a small datestone inscribed JM with a date of 1755; it has the appearance of having been truncated above. A late C20 half-glazed porch has been attached to the front between the windows. The left return of the house has a single-light window near the front and two blocked attic windows. The rear wing has a three-light casement window in a plain surround with a two-light window above. Behind this, the workshop unit steps forward and has a small blocked window below the eaves. A square stone-built extension with brick infill to former windows is attached to the workshop; it is roofless and has no external access. The right return of the house has a single attic window. The rear wing has an entrance door with a further door and window to the workshop behind, both of which are obscured by a brick and breezeblock half-glazed lean-to extension running the whole length of the wing. There is a small stair window on the rear of the main house.

INTERIOR: Internally, the front door opens to a small lobby with the staircase immediately in front. To the left is the main room with a large central beam with chamfer stops and exposed joists but no fireplace. The right hand room (parlour) has a similar beam (partly boxed) and joists, with a tiled mid-C20 fireplace. Windows in both rooms have window seats below in the thickness of the wall. The rear wing is a kitchen with exposed joists. The two upstairs rooms in the main house have similar beams with chamfer stops and joists. A chamber above the rear wing has exposed purlins and a projecting chimney stack. The fireplace is blocked. A staircase from a corridor to the left of the stairs leads to the attic floor where two rooms are divided by the stair. There is a fielded panel door to one of the first-floor rooms. The roof structure is C20, supported on original stone walls with an added line of bricks. Both the end walls and the dividing walls have a stone core with brick infill and extension. The workshop is open to the roof and has a mixture of timbers, all machine cut.

HISTORY: The datestone over the entrance to Arden Farmhouse gives a date of 1755 and the main house is of this date. To the rear is a two-stage wing which is probably C19 and was certainly in place by 1893, the date of the First Edition 1:2500 OS map. The outer section of the rear wing is later than the inner. The 1854 1:10560 map shows buildings on the site but is not clear enough to identify their footprint. By 1962 a small brick extension had been added to the rear north side, which by 1984 had been extended to form a small conservatory. A half-glazed porch at the front was also added by this date. The C20 extensions are not of special interest.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
Arden Farmhouse, a former farmhouse dated to 1755, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Date: it is clearly dated to a period well within the range where most buildings are listed, and has been little altered since the mid-C19
* Architecture: it displays an awareness of contemporary architectural trends in its symmetrical front, while retaining vernacular building traditions
* Original features: the layout of the rooms reflects the original circulation patterns of the farmhouse, and there are surviving beams throughout the main house and roof coverings in the rear wing

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26521426

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)