Rookwood

Rookwood is a house incorporating a Norman hall dating back to around the 12th century, with significant additions and alterations made in the late medieval and 16th centuries, an 18th-century wing, and minor 20th-century features.

The original Norman core has flint and rubble stone walls, approximately 4 feet thick, with a chalkstone facing and stone dressings. Features include a flat buttress, two Norman arches, brick repairs, and a tile-hung west gable. Later timber-framed sections have brick infill, with some brick walls constructed in English and Flemish Garden Wall bonds, and a rendered 19th-century wing. The roof is tiled, with a hip roof on the small service wing, which has low eaves. The overall appearance is of a two-storeyed building with an irregular arrangement of windows. The south face of the original hall has a flat corner buttress and an arched window, the cill of which suggests a former mullion, now partially filled with a 20th-century window. The north face has another arched opening, now converted into a window. The north elevation of the old part displays additional windows with brick quoins, one featuring a 16th-century moulding. There are three 19th-century sash windows (two to the east and one to the south), with the remaining windows being casements of various styles.

Internally, a large fireplace dating to the late 16th century was inserted into the Norman core. Chalkstone jambs are visible at window and former doorway openings. The eastern section reveals an internal timber-framed section of earlier construction than the current external timber-framed wall, featuring a chimney attached to its exterior (now within the building) and an original window with diagonal oak mullions. An oak-moulded casement, also from the 16th century, is set within the inner wall of the outer frame. The narrow west service wing is timber-framed internally, with brick outer walls.