Wealdcote

Wealdcote, Wigley Bush Lane, South Weald

A house of considerable historical complexity, Wealdcote comprises work from the early 16th century, early 17th century, early 18th century, and the 20th century. The building is timber-framed, plastered and rendered, with brick elements and peg-tiled roofs. The plan consists of an early 16th-century long principal range with two rear projecting wings added in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The west front elevation is two storeys with an attic. A continuous early 16th-century jetty runs across the facade, supported at the south end by a 18th-century gable end wall. Four principal joists project from the jetty; two are reduced and two are complete, furnished with brackets and a simple facia board with a bead moulding. The front has a three-window range, all fitted with casements with glazing bars in 2x2 panes, with a number of panes of old crown glass surviving. At ground floor level, running south to north, there are two windows with double casements in simple frames. Two small 20th-century single casement windows sit within 18th-century moulded frames that have been reduced in depth. Between these windows stands an 18th-century front door with six panels: the lower two are flush and beaded, while the upper four are fielded. The door case has a moulded architrave. Two minor jetty joists over the doorway suggest this to be an original door position.

The south elevation is complex, presenting a series of rear ranges running east to west. The gable end of the jettied range was rebuilt in the early 18th century in red brick with some burnt headers, with the gable itself weather-boarded. A contemporary central chimney stack is present. At ground floor level is a lean-to porch with a 20th-century French window with glazing bars, each leaf containing 2x5 panes. The first floor has a 20th-century two-light casement with glazing bars (4x2 panes) and a blocked window. To the west is an 18th-century projecting brick wing, colourwashed, with a ground floor simple timber porch topped by a lean-to hipped roof and a 20th-century framed and panelled door. Behind the roof is a principal stack, set lateral to the early 16th-century block. Further west stands a 17th-century north rear wing, timber-framed, rendered at ground floor level and weather-boarded above. At ground floor are two two-light casement windows with glazing bars (4x2 panes each); at first floor is one two-light window with glazing bars (4x3 panes). A lateral stack serves this block, rebuilt in the 20th century and visible above the roof apex. Continuing westward is an 18th-century smaller unit of brick and weather-board with an end gable stack. At ground floor are two boarded doors and two windows with glazing bars, alternating between one two-light casement (4x2 panes) and one single-light casement (2x2 panes). The first floor has two lights, now fixed, with glazing bars (3x2 panes).

The west elevation of the 16th-century range has a ground floor casement window with glazing bars (3x3 panes). At first floor are one casement window (2x2 panes) and one two-light casement with glazing bars (4x3 panes). Two dormer windows with gabled roofs are present, along with a two-light casement window (4x2 panes) with shaped barge boards. Similar shaped barge boards appear on the exposed gable ends of the north rear wing.

The north elevation of the 16th-century range is weather-boarded with shaped barge boards at the rear. At ground floor are three casement windows with glazing bars (2x3 panes each); at first floor are one two-light casement window (4x3 panes) and one single-light casement window (2x3 panes). The attic, which has been restored, contains a three-light mullioned window in the gable. To the west, the 17th-century wing is rendered and weather-boarded, with one two-light casement window with glazing bars (4x3 panes) and an old stack now wholly rebuilt in the 20th century. The westernmost smaller block is weather-boarded and has two 20th-century casement windows.

The interior reveals three distinct phases of development. Phase one comprises the early 16th-century long jettied range of four bays. The principal joists display step-stopped chamfers, while the wall plates are joined with halved and bridled scarfs. Close studding is present, with very broad internal tension bracing. Three bays are open at both ground and first floors. The fourth bay at the north end is partitioned off and contains a newel stair to the attic in the north-west corner, with triangular-sectioned solid treads and original stairway boarding at attic level. A shutter rebate under the tie-beam indicates a stair window, and evidence of associated doorways appears at ground floor level. The north gable end first floor window frame is centrally positioned with internal tension braces running from the window frame down to the middle rail. The roof originally had collars at bay intervals and trapped side purlins, which have since been removed and replaced with simple collars nailed to each rafter couple.

Phase two represents the early 17th-century addition of a two-bayed north rear wing, timber-framed with lamb's-tongue chamfer stops. Two lateral projecting ground floor fireplaces and stacks are positioned to the rear of the phase one block and on the north side of the phase two wing; both have been heavily rebuilt but their shape has been retained. Secondary partitioning within the second bay from the south in the early block marks the probable site of a 17th-century staircase.

Phase three covers the early 18th-century work, which includes construction of a new staircase on the site of the earlier 17th-century one, featuring a shaped handrail and turned balusters. The south gable wall of the earlier block was rebuilt in brick with a central stack. The brick south rear wing was constructed at this time, as probably was the low extension to the north wing.

The internal plan of both ground and first floors of the 16th-century jettied block—three-bayed open rooms on both floors with a single bay divided off at the north end—is not domestic in character. Comparison with analogous local examples and the proximity to the church suggests that the building was originally a court hall. Such a building would require two entrances: one for litigants and one for the judiciary. One original doorway was likely positioned where the present front door stands, leading into the divided-off north bay. The other was most probably on the site of the 18th-century stairs. The addition of the north wing and the two stacks may well indicate a shift in use to domestic purposes. The rafters over the 17th-century wing are sooted, particularly at the west end, probably indicating an early kitchen which may have had a smoke void for cooking at the west end, subsequently replaced by the lateral stack.