Lovetts Farmhouse

Lovetts Farmhouse, Hadlow Down, Wheeler's Lane

This timber-framed house dates from the early 17th century, was extended and re-roofed in the 18th century, and was restored with a north east wing added following hurricane damage in 1988–9.

The building is timber-framed but has been refronted in various materials: the ground floor is brick or painted brick, while the first floor is hung with tiles or weatherboarded. It has a hipped tiled roof with a gablet to the north west and a central brick chimneystack, the brickwork of which has been rebuilt above the roof line. The later north east wing is constructed of brick in stretcher bond with sandstone quoins, some weatherboarding to the gable end, and a tiled roof.

The house originally followed a lobby entrance plan, probably comprising two bays with a central entrance to the south west. Further bays were added at each end when the building was converted into two cottages. A two-storey north eastern wing was added in 1988–9.

The building now stands two storeys high with late 20th-century top-opening casement windows throughout. The south west front has a ground floor of painted Flemish bond brickwork and an upper floor hung with 20th-century pointed tiles; it contains six casement windows on the first floor and five on the ground floor, with a 20th-century plank door positioned almost opposite the chimneystack. The north west side of the original wing has a deep sandstone plinth with English bond brickwork above and weatherboarding to the upper floor; it features two casement windows and a late 20th-century sandstone porch with hipped tiled roof. The south east side has a painted brick ground floor with a tile-hung upper floor incorporating two diaper-shaped panels in curved tiles. The north west side has a deep sandstone plinth with English bond brickwork above and weatherboarding to the upper floors, a casement window, and a patio door on the ground floor. The attached late 20th-century L-wing is constructed of brick with sandstone quoins, weatherboarding to the gable end, and a tiled roof.

The interior reveals substantial original timber-frame fabric. The north west ground floor room was originally the kitchen and contains a wide open brick fireplace with wooden bressumer, retaining the marks of an iron bracket for supporting a cooking pot, and an original beehive-shaped breadoven. The bay nearest the fireplace has a chamfered spine beam with lamb's tongue stop. The north western bay has chamfered ceiling beams at right angles to the adjoining bay. The south eastern ground floor room has a smaller fireplace with wooden bressumer, a gabled spice recess, and some narrow 17th-century bricks, with similar ceiling beams. The original rear north west wall is visible internally to its full two-storey height, with a curved corner tension brace visible and some herringbone brick infilling. The upper floor displays a visible wall frame with jowled corner posts and curved tension braces, and internal partitions with jowled posts, tie beams, and curved tension braces. Originally there was one heated bedroom above the kitchen, which retains a small 17th-century brick fireplace with wooden bressumer. There are also 18th-century partitions, probably dating from the subdivision into two cottages. Some rafters and angled queen struts remain visible on the upper floor. From these and the limited amount of fabric visible through a small opening into the roof space, it appears the roof was replaced in the 18th century with an inserted ridgepiece and some replaced rafters.

The building originated as an early 17th-century house of lobby entrance plan, probably extended at each end by a bay when converted into two cottages. Maps from the First Edition Ordnance Survey through to the Third Edition show the building divided into two. From the 1920s it was owned by one family for a long period with little alteration. Following damage in the 1987 hurricane, extensive repairs were carried out and a north east wing was added in 1988–9.

The significance of the building lies in its early 17th-century timber-framed structure of lobby entrance plan, probably extended in the 18th century when converted into two cottages, with substantially intact timber framing. The interior retains three 17th-century fireplaces, one of which still has its original breadoven—a rare survival.