Description

TQ 54 SW SPELDHURST POUNDSBRIDGE LANE

3/540 Nos 1, 2 and 3 Silcocks
Cottages
15.5.74
II

Former farmhouse, now divided into 3 cottages. Early/mid C16, some late C17
additions, minor C19 and C20 modernisations. Timber-framed. Some is
underbuilt with painted brick, much of the framing is plastered over and some
is hung with peg-tile. Brick stacks, the older one on a coursed sandstone
base, brick chimneyshafts. Peg-tile roof.

Plan: Row of 3 one-room plan cottages facing west north west, say west. The
cottages have been made by subdividing a large farmhouse. The C16 farmhouse
has a 3-room-and-through-passage plan with the service end at the left north
end. Originally it was divided into 2 by an axial partition. The other side
of the passage was the hall and at the right end a parlour in a crosswing
projecting a short distance to rear. An axial stack between hall and parlour
served back-to-back fireplaces. The hall was apparently floored from the
beginning and presumably the hall was then used as a kitchen. In the late C17
the service end was upgraded. The service partition was removed and a new end
stack built, a one-room plan extension built to the rear containing a new
stair and the service outshot built on that end.

No 1 occupies the upgraded service end. The lower passage partition has been
removed. No 2 occupies the former hall and No 3 occupies the parlour
crosswing. The axial stack was rebuilt in the late C19 or early C20.

2 storeys with attics in the roofspace.

Exterior: Tall house with an irregular 5-window front (including the left end
outshot) of C20 casements with glazing bars. All 3 cottages have C20 part-
glazed panelled doors. No 1 and 2 have C19 reeded doorframes and No 3 has a
C20 gabled porch. Tall roof is hipped both ends and to left it is carried
down over the outshot there. The parlour end (No 3) has a front gable lower
than the main roof and extends a short distance to a rear gable. Some of the
framing is exposed to rear.

Interior: Despite the loss of the original stack the C16 house is very well
preserved. Wall framing of large scantling and no tension braces can be seen
in places. Some of the framing at the front of the parlour section has been
replaced. The beams throughout are unusually large and are chamfered with
canted step stops. Joists are chamfered with step stops at ground floor
level. The hall has a large 4-panel intersecting beam ceiling. The timbers
in the chamber over the parlour (No 3) retain traces of C16 painted
decoration. The original stair at the back of the parlour crosswing (also No
3) is a most impressive affair; a newel stair with solid steps rising round an
enormous newel posts. Roof of tie-beam trusses on wall posts with formed
jowls and has clasped side purlins with queen struts. What is unusual is
that, apart from the parlour crosswing roof, the tie beams are set well above
the second floor level. There is room between the attic floor and the wall
plate for diamond mullion windows, some of which can be seen in the attics.

The large hall chamber was divided in the C17 by a square-panel framed
crosswall. The late C17 fireplace in the former service end (No 1) is of
sandstone ashlar and although the soffit of the oak lintel has been cut away
it is of parlour status. Straight flight stair in the rear block and doorways
off its landing have chamfered surrounds with scroll stops. The rear room has
a chamfered crossbeam with runout stops. Roof construction of the extensions
this end is of staggered butt purlin construction.

This is a very good C16 house, larger than most contemporary farmhouses and
with some good C17 improvements.

Listing NGR: TQ5357240425

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26533836

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair