Crowbridge Cottage, Romden Road, Smarden

Crowbridge Cottage, Romden Road, Smarden

An early 15th-century Wealden hall house with a later 15th-century solar wing that probably replaced the original solar, built by the Guldeford family. Following hurricane damage in 1987, the building was restored and re-erected on this new site between 1999 and 2003. At the same time, a linked 18th-century cottage from Willesborough was moved to the site owing to the High Speed Rail Link. The late 20th-century link block connecting the two structures is not of special interest.

The hall house is timber-framed with rendered infill and a steeply pitched thatched roof. It has wooden window frames with diamond mullions. The cottage is of rendered brick with tile-hanging and a tiled roof with a brick chimneystack.

The hall house comprises an unequally spaced two-bay open hall with a cross passage, a two-storey single-bay service wing to the west, and a separately framed two-storey, two-bay solar wing to the east. The cottage is of two bays, with the chimneystack heating two ground floor rooms, and a catslide outshot to the west.

The north or entrance front has a jettied west service bay with curved down braces and a two-light casement window on each floor. The recessed hall has curved braces, a midrail and an arched doorcase at the low end with a 20th-century plank door, and two casement windows to each floor at the high end. The jettied east solar bay is close-studded, has two casement windows to each floor and a carved corner dragon-post. The east elevation is also jettied and close-studded with two casement windows to each floor and a further carved dragon post at the south end. The south elevation of the eastern solar bay projects forward of the hall, is close-studded and jettied, and has two casement windows to the upper floor. The hall on this side has a similar arrangement of windows to the north side. The remaining part of this side is mainly masked by a 20th-century link block. The west side is not jettied and has three curved down braces and two casement windows on each floor.

A late 20th-century single-storey link block leads to Crowbridge Cottage, which is tile-hung over a rendered ground floor, with a tiled roof, a brick chimneystack and casement windows.

The north entrance leads directly into the open hall, which has a finely moulded and castellated dais beam at the high end. The arch braces and tie beam to the open hall truss have cavetto mouldings. The crown-post is of octagonal section with a moulded base and capital and four up braces. The other two square crown-posts have both up and down braces. The eaves plate and collar purlins have edge-halved scarfs with bridled abutments. The service wing has a ground floor partition dividing it into a buttery and pantry. The solar wing also has an open roof with an octagonal crown-post and a cambered tie beam with similar mouldings to the earlier part of the building. Measured drawings by Canterbury Archaeological Trust show very sophisticated carpentry, including a double eaves plate assembly, edge-halved scarf joints with bridled abutments, a triple jowled post, a counter-bridled metre and a mitred bridle return. There is currently no recorded information about interior fixtures of the 18th-century cottage.