Description

TQ 54 NW
4/183

HILDENBOROUGH
PHILPOTS LANE (north side)
Oldhouse Farmhouse

GV
II
Former farmhouse. Late C16/early C17, alterations of circa 1939. Framed construction, the ground floor largely underbuilt in brick, the first floor tile-hung; peg-tile roof; brick stacks.

Plan and Development: the house faces south east. The original arrangement was a three-room plan main range with a lobby entrance to left of centre, the right hand (north east) room in a crosswing with what was probably an unheated service room to the rear. There was a second unheated service room in a rear left wing at right angles to the main range. The two principal left hand rooms, heated from back-to-back fireplaces in an axial stack, were a parlour, to the left and a hall to the right. The position of the original kitchen is unclear. Cooking may have been carried out in the hall but the high quality fireplace in this room suggests a superior status, and it may be that the right hand room, altered and extended in circa 1939, was the original kitchen. Post C17 alterations include the addition of a stack to the rear left service wing (possibly in the C19) and a major phase of 1939 during which the house was extended at both ends of the main range and re-windowed. The two rear wings were linked by a rear outshut with, above it on the first floor, an axial passage contained within a flat-roofed projection. The extension of the right hand (north east) room included a projecting end stack.

Exterior: two storeys and attic. Asymmetrical four window front, the end-of the crosswing to right of centre, flush with the main range front wall. Roof hipped at ends of main range and rear wings. Circa 1939 porch to the lobby entrance to left of centre with a hipped tiled roof carried on re-used, cut down wall posts. Set of 1930s one-, two- and three-light metal-framed windows; two attic dormers with hipped roofs. There is a second, 1930s entrance on the right return into a lean-to porch between the main range and rear right wing. Old photographs (National Monument Record, 1957) show that the shaft of the stack to the rear left wing has been truncated.

Interior: the parlour, to the left, preserves a fine late C16/early C17 moulded stone chimney-piece with a Tudor arched lintel and elaborately-stopped jambs. Original carpentry includes a longitudinal beam and chamfered step-stopped joists. The extension of the room to the left in the 1930s involved the removal of the original left end wall. The hall, in the centre, also retains its original ceiling beam and exposed joists. The fireplace has chamfered stone jambs and a moulded oak lintel which may possibly be re-used. A void in the masonry of the axial stack; accessible from a trap door in the first floor, is of unknown function. Some brick patching suggests that there may have been access to it from the hall fireplace but it shows no signs of blackening. The right hand ground floor room, in the crosswing, has plainer exposed carpentry. The circa 1939 extension could have involved the removal of an original end stack, the addition is marked by an open timber screen re-using old wall posts. The chamber over the hall has a fine moulded stone chimney-piece with a deep hollow moulding, a Tudor arch and rustic oak leaves and acorns carved in the spandrels. It is in surprisingly good condition for an original chimney-piece. This chamber and that over the parlour preserve their original ceiling carpentry with scroll stops, the chamber over the right hand room has a raised ceiling, the original presumably removed when the 1930s stair was inserted. This room and the chamber over the hall both have the remains of original unglazed windows in the front wall frame. Above the lobby a flight of late C16/early C17 oak stairs, dividing at the top, leads to the attic rooms. The wall framing, where exposed, is of large scantling with roughly-dressed jowls to the wall posts.

Roof: the roof of the main range is largely concealed behind the lining of the attic rooms, but appears to be original with rafters of large scantling, including at least one blackened rafter, perhaps re-used from a former smoke bay. Side purlin roof to the crosswing with convex wind braces.

The house is reputed to have been the home of a bastard son of Sir Philip Sidney of Penshurst (information from the owner).

A traditional house of the region retaining much of its original carpentry.

Listing NGR: TQ5455348816

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26540550

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

• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)