Wheelwrights

Wheelwrights is a house located in Peasmarsh, dating from the late 16th century. It was refronted and extended in the mid-18th century and underwent further remodeling and extension in 1937-1938 for Mr. Hampson, designed by E. Blunden Shadbolt. This complex building features a timber frame clad in weatherboarding on the north side, tile hanging on the west, and a mix of brick and timber framing with plaster infill on other elevations. It has a tiled roof with brick chimneystacks and is irregular in shape, consisting of two storeys and attics. The early 20th-century casement windows have leaded lights, and the north front is weatherboarded on a brick plinth, featuring one gabled dormer and an external 18th-century parlour chimneystack to the east. The original central doorcase has been replaced by a window, and there is a lean-to on the west side. The brick and tile-hung kitchen wing to the west is either 18th century or early 19th century.

E. Blunden Shadbolt added a distinctive brick and timber-framed wing to the southeast, designed in stretcher bond, which includes two water tanks, a bedroom, and a loggia on the ground floor. This addition has a gambrel roof, an external stack, and an ornamental hoist. Other elevations have been altered, revealing much exposed framing.

Inside, the dining room features a 16th-century open fireplace with a wooden bressumer, exposed floor joists, and a spine beam with stop-chamfered edges and lamb's tongue stops. The drawing room has a bressumer with a roll-moulded beam that ends in leaf moulding, possibly a later addition. The parlour fireplace is from the 18th century but has a fireback dated to 1650. There are 17th-century panelled doors, a minstrel's gallery, and two staircases, largely attributed to E. Blunden Shadbolt. The first floor retains some 16th-century curved braces, although many upright posts exhibit an 18th-century cut profile. The 18th-century roof features pegged rafters with collar beams.