The Sanctuary

The Sanctuary is a house formerly used as a farmhouse, located in Lympne. The eastern part of the building dates from 1774, with the western range added in the early 19th century. A garage to the north-west and outbuilding to the south-west are not considered to be of special interest.

The eastern section is constructed of rendered brick, while the western part is tile-hung with some painted brick to the ground floor. The building features a gabled tiled roof with end brick chimneys to the east and a triple hipped roof to the west.

The original eastern range was a two-storey, two-bay house with end chimneys, possibly originally including a single-storey western outshot beneath a catslide roof. The western range added a staircase-hall, cellar and two additional rooms on each floor.

The east elevation, originally the principal front, displays a brick modillion cornice and plinth with a datestone of 1774 bearing the initials WRE and JF. It has two irregularly-spaced 19th-century casement windows with leaded lights and two cambered doorcases. The north side, now functioning as the entrance front, has a small lean-to addition, two multipane sash windows and a doorcase with cornice and brackets. The west elevation has a first-floor metal casement with leaded lights and a ground-floor multipane sash. The south side contains two first-floor multiple sashes with horns, a 20th-century window to the ground floor and a doorcase with reeded surround.

Internally, the ground floor of the eastern range now comprises one room but was originally divided into two rooms by a central passage. A central chamfered spine beam and exposed floor joists remain, though two additional beams have been added parallel to the spine beam. At the southern end is a large brick open fireplace with a wooden bressumer. The adjoining staircase-hall to the west contains an early 19th-century staircase with a columnar newel post and a cellar with brick steps. The south-west dining room has a doorcase with an early 19th-century reeded surround with paterae, a door with six fielded panels, a cambered arch to the fireplace and a segmental-headed alcove. The north-west room, currently a kitchen, features a four-panelled door with blocked rectangular fanlight, a fireplace with reeded surround decorated with lozenge ornament to the centre and corners, and a cupboard with narrow serpentine shelves. The north-eastern bedroom retains the exposed upper part of the northern chimneybreast and an 18th-century studded partition. Three 19th-century fireplaces are located on the upper floor.

The building served as a farmhouse until the 1970s when it was purchased by author Margaret Brentnall. It appears on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1873 with a smithy marked nearby; some of the smithy walls are incorporated into the 20th-century garage. The Sanctuary has group value with adjacent listed buildings, including the Grade I listed Lympne Castle, and stands within a conservation area.