Cheeseman's Green Farmhouse

Cheeseman's Green Farmhouse

This farmhouse stands at the south of the farmstead. It is probably a 17th-century lobby entry house that was enlarged and re-fronted in the mid to late 18th century, with minor 20th-century alterations.

The building is constructed of Kentish ragstone (largely white-painted) and red brick laid in Flemish bond. The upper storey of the rear range is timber-framed and clad with hanging tiles. The roofs are covered with clay tiles. Most of the timber casement windows are modern replacements.

The farmhouse comprises two storeys. The original 17th-century western range is rectangular with a hipped roof. A service range with a transverse hipped roof adjoins it at the southern end. An additional parallel 18th-century range runs to the east with a pitched roof and end stacks. The original western range follows a lobby entry plan with two rooms on each floor either side of a central stack, and the original stair sits at the rear of the stack. The service range has been subdivided on the ground floor and contains a single room on the first floor. The later eastern range comprises two rooms placed either side of an entrance hall with a straight stair. The first floor has two bedrooms with a powder room (now a bathroom) over the entrance hall.

The east front elevation is symmetrical in three bays with a central entrance. A later flat-roofed weatherboarded porch has been added. The six-panel door has glazed lights in the upper panels. The windows are replacement timber casements with glazing bars, set in threes except for the central first floor, which has double casements.

The rear west elevation has stone on the ground floor with patches of brick infill and brick quoins. The upper storey is tile-hung, probably over timber framing. A large enclosed porch with pitched tile roof, tile-hung gable and metal casement windows occupies a central position. The fenestration is irregular, consisting of small square replacement timber casements. On the ground floor, a set of three casements sits to the south of the porch, partially enclosed by the later porch at the north end. The first floor has three casements at the northern end and a single casement (with a modern skylight above) over the southern slope of the porch. The service block at the south end is blind.

The north elevation has a stone ground floor with a run of replacement timber casements on the west side. The east elevation has a stone ground floor to the service block to the west, while the eastern range is brick-built. Fenestration appears only in the service block: on the ground floor a pair of timber casements and a single casement with transom are enclosed by a brick surround, and the first floor has a pair of timber casements.

The interior of the eastern range is essentially 18th-century in character. The southern room contains a large inglenook fireplace with a timber bressummer and modern fire hood. To the east of the fireplace is a cupboard with a plank and batten door with iron strap hinges, spring latch and finger-plates. The room features a single exposed oak ceiling beam with chamfer and shallow stops, dado-rail, skirting, an inset bookcase and a four-panel door to the hall with lock case and finger-plates. A plank and batten door gives access to the western range. The northern room has a 1930s brick fireplace flanked by cupboards with four-panel doors. This room has an exposed oak ceiling beam, a four-panel door with door furniture to the hall and a plank and batten door with strap hinges through to the northern room of the western range.

The two ranges are divided by a studded wall with a substantial sill beam, posts, studding and bressummer all evident. Between the two doors into the eastern range is a cupboard under the 18th-century stair with a plank and batten door. The rooms either side of the central stack in the western range have longitudinal chamfered beams with stops and exposed joists. In the northern room the infilled fireplace has timber framing above the bressummer. The windows in the northern wall rest on a substantial timber lintel. In the southern room the original winder stair at the rear of the stack is accessed through a plank and batten door. The fireplace is infilled with a modern cupboard. The service range has been modernised and subdivided but retains elements of timber framing.

On the first floor of the eastern range, the landing balustrade has a double finial to the newel post and stick balusters. All doors off the landing are four-panelled, and a nine-light leaded window with wrought iron saddle bars overlooks the stair from the powder room. The southern bedroom has a timber fireplace surround with a 19th-century arched grate. Cupboards either side of the fireplace have plank and batten doors with iron strap hinges; one retains wooden drying pegs. The northern bedroom has virtually identical fittings with a different chimney surround style. One cupboard has drying pegs and a drop handle. The service range contains a single room (now a bathroom) with plank and batten doors to the southern bedroom of the eastern range and, via three steps, to the southern bedroom of the west range, which has a lower floor level (another plank and batten door and steps give access to the landing). This room is timber-framed with a longitudinal beam, and a modern skylight has been introduced. A third plank and batten door gives access to the rear winder stair, which has a faceted newel post and pyramidal finial. The northern bedroom contains ample evidence of timber framing, including a stud wall dividing it from a stepped corridor adjoining the central stack and linking with the landing in the eastern range.

Only a small part of the roof structure of the eastern range was visible during inspection in 2017. This section showed hand-cut rafters with pegged joints and a ridge-piece.