Old Caring

This is a timber-framed house, likely dating to the 15th century or possibly the very late 14th century, with significant additions and alterations in the 16th and 19th centuries. The rear elevation is rendered with timber framing, while the front has stone with brick dressings to the lower section on the left, rendered first floor, and painted brick on the right. The house is Wealden in style, parallel to Caring Road, with one bay of a two-bay open hall remaining; a truncating wall to the right forms the left section of the front elevation. The recess was filled in during the 16th century to create a continuous jetty. A separately framed storeyed bay is located at the left end and is accompanied by a left rear return wing, also with a continuous jetty. Later additions, in two stages – one from the 19th century – fill in the L shape, forming a rectangular block with the right side partially recessed.

The front elevation is two storeys high and divided into two sections, the right section projecting slightly forward, except for the recessed right end. The left section has a broad gable with plain bargeboards, and the right section has a half-hip roof. There are three small casements in the attic of the left section and one two-light casement to the first floor. The right section has two 19th-century casements to the first floor, and one to the recessed portion. A ribbed door is located at the left end.

The rear elevation, formerly the left return wing, has a ground floor clad in red brick in Flemish bond and a first floor with broadly-spaced studding and tension braces to the right end. A large projecting stone stack is located at the right end of the Wealden section, featuring a red brick flue and three bee-holes.

Inside, at the storeyed end of the Wealden section, there is a tall, slender octagonal crown post with a plain chamfer-stopped base on an axial tie-beam. The hall has large posts and a heavy, plain cambered arch-braced central tie-beam just inside the present gable wall, along with remains of a brattished moulded end of the hall beam. A 16th-century inserted floor has a molded axial beam. A late 16th-century stone fireplace is located at the storeyed end of the hall, with molded jambs, a four-centred arch with hollow spandrels, and a cambered lintel. The remains of an original door are visible in the rear wall of the hall. Only a partial interior inspection has been conducted.