Vine House

Vine House is a house formerly used as a public house, dating from the late 18th or early 19th century with a 19th century rear extension. The building was refurbished in the later 20th century. The 20th century porch and north-western toilet block are not of special interest.

The building has a double depth, two bay plan with two storeys and attics. The staircase is positioned in the north-western corner with three rooms on each of the ground and first floors. A single-storey kitchen extension has been added to the north-west.

The exterior is stuccoed on Kentish ragstone foundations with a half-hipped pegged roof. Three tall stuccoed external chimneysstacks rise from the stuccoed walls, with a further tall brick chimneystack to the rear. The south or entrance front features two 20th century flat-roofed dormers to the attic. Below these are two 20-pane sash windows with horns and cambered heads to the ground floor windows. A central late 20th century gabled porch has been added, although the original front door with six fielded panels survives behind it. The east side elevation has three windows while the west side has one small window. The north elevation contains a tripartite casement to the first floor beneath a cambered arch with a narrower window below. The western end is obscured by a painted brick single-storey wing with a gabled slate roof, which features a 20th century uPVC window and door.

Internally, the south-western room is accessed directly from the entrance and contains a 20th century ceiling beam and 20th century brick fireplace. The north-west ground floor room has a 20th century fireplace bressumer and an internal partition wall of thin timber scantling with diagonal braces and marks of nail holes and wet plaster. The south-east ground floor room has an inter-war brick fireplace. A half-winder wooden staircase descends to the cellar, which is constructed of Kentish ragstone and features a coved brick support for the south-western fireplace and a barrel shute. The main staircase is of dogleg type with stick balusters and chamfered newel posts. A first floor bedroom retains a moulded wooden fire surround with a mid-19th century round-headed arched cast iron firegrate. Two-panelled doors with L-hinges and some four-panelled doors survive throughout. A further bedroom has an inter-war brick fireplace. The attic contains a four-panelled door and a plank door.

The building is shown as The Bull public house on the 1885 Ordnance Survey map with an L-shaped footprint similar to its current form. Separate stables stood to the north-west, later converted to residential use. Further outbuildings shown on the 1897 and 1908 maps attached to the eastern side no longer exist. Soon after 1884 the building ceased to be a public house and was converted to residential use. Subsequently a small rear extension and front porch were added.