Harding'S Farmhouse

Harding's Farmhouse is a timber-framed house dating to the early 16th and 17th centuries, with renovations carried out in 1969. The house is built with roughcast rendered walls containing some exposed timber framing, and a roof of handmade and machine-made red clay tiles. The original design comprised a short main range facing west, likely incorporating part of an earlier hall, with an 18th-century external stack at the right end. A wide two-bay cross-wing, from the early 16th century, extends to the left, featuring a 17th-century external stack to the left of it. A 19th-century single-storey extension runs along the rear, with further later single-storey additions beyond.

The cross-wing has an early 19th-century sash window with 8+8 lights on the ground floor, and a 20th-century casement window above. The main range features a similar sash window on the ground floor, altered or a replica, and a 20th-century casement window above. A 20th-century half-glazed door serves as the main entrance. The front of the cross-wing is jettied, supported by two original plain brackets and a 20th-century plain fascia on the bressumer. The exposed framing above the jetty includes jowled posts, close studding and renewed ‘Suffolk’ braces. Much of the studding above the tie-beam has been renewed. The left elevation displays wholly exposed framing, with close studding, ‘Suffolk’ braces, and a blocked, unglazed window on the first floor, partially obscured by the stack. The concrete sill, textured to resemble timber, was introduced in 1969. All other windows are 20th-century casements. The potential replacement of the sash windows was under discussion in 1989.

Historical records from the Petre archives, dating back to 1556, detail a holding of 72 acres, encompassing a 45-foot-long house with a tiled roof, and a separate thatched kitchen. A 1601 map illustrates a house consisting of a single-storey hall range with attic space, a door at the right end, one window and a chimney to the left of centre, and gabled two-storey cross-wings at each end. The position of the stack suggests it served the 'high end' bay of the hall, while cooking was initially done in the external kitchen. The present cross-wing aligns with the parlour/solar shown in 1601, with a later external stack added. The main range may incorporate a bay of the original hall, raised to two-story height, or it may be a 17th-century rebuild. Chapman and Andre's map of 1777 identifies the property as Harden.