Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery (Chillington House)

The Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery, also known as Chillington House, is a building with an early Elizabethan core dating from when Nicholas Barham acquired the manor in 1561. It was extensively restored in 1875, with later additions and alterations. The front of the building, facing St Faith Street, is arranged in an E-shape. The main structure is red brick.

The three projecting wings each have three storeys, a single window, and a gable topped with stone animal figures, kneelers with twisted finials ending in ball caps – all added in the 19th century. A two-storey section with one window bay sits between these wings. Stone cornices run above each floor. The windows are arranged in three tiers of four lights, featuring wooden mullions, transoms, and diamond-leaded panes. Stone gate piers topped with seated lion figures provide entrance to a forecourt from St Faith Street.

A two-storey section with an attic, and seven windows and five dormers with pediments, forms the rear of the building, facing Brenchley Gardens. This section, dating from the late 17th century, is built of red brick with a tiled roof and a wooden eaves cornice ornamented with modillions. Recessed panels are located between the ground and first floor windows, and there are casement windows with small square leaded panes, along with one-sash windows retaining their original glazing bars.

The north wing is timber-framed and has been restored. Originally weatherboarded, its east front features three gables: the two southernmost are of stone rubble on the ground floor and red brick above, while the northernmost is of studded timber framing on a stone rubble base. The west front is red brick on the ground floor and studded above, with the first floor overhanging on a moulded bressumer. A central porch features a jettied first floor and a gable. Gallery windows are a modern reconstruction of the originals. Modern extensions have been added at the north end of this wing, and to the east and west of the main building, replacing older structures.

The timber-framed building to the east of the north wing is the relocated south wing of Court Lodge in East Farleigh, re-erected here in 1874. Internally, it contains a fine Elizabethan Great Hall with 16th-century panelling and the original screen, featuring a frieze with a pierced lattice of quatrefoils. Other notable interior features include fine 16th-century fireplaces and cloisters dating from the reign of Henry VII or Henry VIII. The relocated south wing of the Court Lodge East Farleigh has a crown post roof.