Ratling Court

Ratling Court is a house dating back to circa 1320, with significant extensions in the late 15th century, 1637, and a largely 18th-century facade. The building is timber framed, with some close studded timber visible, particularly to the rear and right return. The exterior is primarily painted brick with a plain tiled roof. The design incorporates an aisled hall with a cross wing plan. Two-storey wings flank a central single-storey and attic range, featuring a jetty to the right supported by dragon posts. The roof is hipped with stacks at the end left and centrally, and includes two central hipped dormers. Windows are a mix of glazing bar sashes, with two on the first floor and a tripartite sash plus three single glazing bar sashes on the ground floor. The front door is made of six raised and fielded panels, set within a segmentally headed surround. A catslide and hipped wing extend to the rear.

Internally, portions of the original aisle posts remain, one visible upstairs supporting the western (rear) aisle plate, and the other plate survives clearly. The central hall retains a king post roof—one of the few such roofs in Kent—with doubled lapped collars, short-stemmed crown posts, and moulded bases and capitals. The north wing (dating to the 15th century) includes an octagonal moulded crown post on a hollow chamfered knee braced tie beam, with a plain section crown post downbraced to the tie beam to the rear. Smoke blackened roof timbers are present throughout the hall and cross wing. A mid-17th century wing features a clasped purlin roof. Interior details include plain dado panelling with a cornice, fillet and ovolo moulded ceiling joists, and a smaller room to the rear with raised and fielded panelled dado and a moulded wooden fire surround. Elsewhere are quirk and tongue stop chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. An 18th-century stair landing has a rail with turned balusters.

William Cowper (Bart, 1642) resided at Ratling Court for a long period and is said to have planned additions, including the ceiling in the hall. The southern wing was dated 1637, although the date is now lost. Originally built for the de Ratling family, the house remained a possession of the Earls Cowper for a long time.