Brockton Court

Brockton Court is a detached house dating from 1678, with significant additions made in the early 19th century, mid-19th century, and 20th century.

The original 1678 range is a two-storey, two-bay brick structure with ashlar quoins and an external brick stack. In the early 19th century, a single brick bay with an end stack was added northwards, and these elements together form the entrance range beneath a hipped roof of clay tiles. A further range of brick construction was added to the south west around 1834. The house has two storeys with a cellar and attic, and windows throughout are mostly sashes with glazing bars, fitted with painted stone flat-arched lintels and cills.

The north east entrance front features a tall projecting brick stack with a pedimented entrance porch having Tuscan columns. To the right of the porch, a vertical joint with large ashlar quoins marks the northern extent of the 1678 building. At ground level is a canted bay window with stone mullions; the first floor has two eight-over-eight sash windows with flat-arched lintels and a four-over-eight sash above the bay, along with two 20th-century roof lights.

The south west elevation shows the original single-bay south wall of the 1678 building under a hipped roof, followed by three bays of the mid-19th-century addition also under a hipped roof. Further west, set back at right angles, is the former rear service wing occupying two bays. The two 1678 bays each have a sash window at ground floor, and a single boxed sash with brick eared architrave and cill at first floor, below which is a carved stone plaque inscribed '1678 WFE'. The mid-19th-century addition comprises a canted bay with chamfered sandstone mullions and ground-floor sash, three first-floor sashes, and French doors on the return elevation. The former service range has a pitched tile roof with a tall external stack in its west gable end. The south east elevation has no openings. A flat-roofed extension and conservatory of 20th-century date have been added to the rear and are not of special interest.

Internally, the earlier part of the house retains significant 17th-century features including exposed chamfered ceiling beams with stepped stops. There is a staircase between ground floor and first floor with splat balusters, though the newel post pendants have been replaced, and a straight staircase between first floor and attic with splat balusters and square newel posts with chamfered pendants. Most other internal features date from the Late Regency period, including chimney pieces, six-panelled doors, doorcases, moulded cornices, and panelled shutters to some ground-floor windows. The roof structure of the entrance range uses principal rafters with single trenched purlins, probably of early 19th-century date. The mid-19th-century addition has an A-frame roof construction with trusses and two rows of purlins.

To the south west is a 19th-century brick-built stables and carriage house with group value to the house. It has a pitched clay tile roof with a brick stack towards the east end, stepped brick copings to both gable ends with projecting brick perches, and two double-doored entrances on the entrance front.

Brockton Court is a large detached farmhouse set within landscaped grounds. The site has been occupied since at least 1574, when a timber-framed building stood there, shown in a 19th-century illustration and demolished in 1834. The house was owned by the Farmer family for more than 250 years until their emigration to Canada in 1834. Part of Brockton Court was once used as a court house. The substantially intact plan form, survival of internal fittings, and overall architectural quality make this house of special interest.