Charlton Court

Charlton Court is an unfinished country house, formerly a farmhouse and later a school. It dates to 1612, with significant restoration and additions made in the mid-19th century. The building’s unusual plan is thought to resemble a design by John Thorpe. It is constructed of red brick in English bond, with rendered dressings, and has a plain tile roof. The building represents a fragment of a larger house that was never completed.

The house has two storeys, attics, and a basement, built on a high-coursed galletted stone plinth. A deep moulded string course runs above the ground floor and first-floor windows. The gable ends are shaped with moulded rendered coping, and there are three shaped brick gables to the south elevation, also with rendered coping. Each south gable and each gable end has a three-light ovolo-moulded rendered window with a hoodmould. The main south-facing front has three bays. To either side of the central bay is a slightly canted two-storey bay, and a two-storey central triangular bay; all have plain tiled roofs that abut the gables and incorporate string courses. Each rectangular bay features a six-light rendered ovolo-moulded mullioned and transomed window to each floor, with side-lights. The central bay has a two-light transomed window on each floor, flanked by cross windows between the outer bays and the central bay.

A further two-storey triangular bay projects from the left gabled end. Slender rendered shafts with bell capitals and bases are situated at the outer and inner angles of each bay, and at the corners of each south gable, and at each corner of the ground and first floors to the front and rear. The central bay terminates just above the plinth, with a shaped base, and contains a half-glazed door. Blank rendered shields or motifs are present on each south gable, and rendered strapwork decorates the gable ends. The date "1612" is inscribed on the east gable end, and a shield with a monogram is on the west gable end. C19 rear wings, built in a similar style, include chimney stacks.

The interior has not been inspected, but is reported to contain plaster friezes, plaster strapwork to the ceiling of the window bays, and carved doors depicting early 17th-century figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity. 20th-century additions to the rear and right side are not included in the listing.