Milgate House, Tudor Milgate and Brewers House.

Milgate House, Tudor Milgate and Brewers House

House. The front range dates to the early 18th century with a mid-18th century addition, while the rear courtyard wings are mid-to-late 16th century with alterations from the late 17th or early 18th century, possibly in two phases.

The front range (north elevation) is constructed of reddish-grey brick in Flemish bond with red brick dressings, and chequered red and grey brick to the return elevations. It has a plain tile roof and rises two storeys with attics on a short stone plinth. The eaves are finished with a wood modillion cornice, and a grey brick parapet with recessed red brick panels sits above the windows. The roof is hipped, returning along the side elevations, with four panelled rear brick stacks. Two dormers have segmental pediments.

The front elevation features a slight central projection with a triangular pediment containing a red brick-dressed keyed oeil-de-boeuf. The seven-window front is regular and uniform, with tall glazing-bar sashes—the central three windows set within the projection. The central first-floor window sits in a broad red brick panel with a segmental head. All windows have gauged red brick voussoirs with triple keyblocks and recessed panels below. The first-floor window panels have very thin moulded red brick cills. Red brick chainage runs between ground and first-floor windows, with red brick dressings at the building's corners.

The central wooden doorcase displays fluted Corinthian pilasters carrying an entablature with a foliated frieze bearing intertwined initials "WC". A flat corniced hood on scrolled brackets rises above.

The left return elevation presents a regular four-window front in chequered red and grey brick, matching the style of the front elevation. A mid-18th century canted bay was added to the right gable end, with a straight front elevation in red brick and a canted end in chequered red and grey brick. This addition is two storeys on a low stone plinth, with a wood modillion eaves cornice matching the rest of the front elevation and a parapet with a hint of castellation at the corners. Windows appear only in the canted end, in the style of the early 18th century work but without keystones and chainage; first-floor windows have blind cases.

The rear right-hand (west) wing is recessed from the original gable end of the front block. It was originally possibly partly timber-framed. The ground floor is red brick in English bond with traces of diapering; the first floor, probably late 17th century, features lightly chequered red and grey brick in Flemish bond. The plain tile roof covers two lower storeys and attics on a higher stone plinth with brick coping. A plat band and scrolled wood modillion eaves cornice ornament the elevation. A ridge stack sits towards the centre; a very large projecting stack at the right end rises on a stone plinth with brick above in English bond, diapering, and a cornice towards the top bearing four flues with flat and diamond fillets and circular brick posts. Two hipped dormers are present. The regular six-window front displays glazing-bar sashes with rubbed brick voussoirs and blind cases. French windows open to the ground floor.

The rear left-hand (east) wing is recessed from and lower than the front range of Milgate House. It has a partly timber-framed core of mid-to-late 16th century with a late 17th or very early 18th century façade of chequered red and grey brick and a plain tile roof. Two storeys and attics sit on a plinth with moulded stone coping and a plat band. A wood modillion eaves cornice projects over the first-floor windows, with small scrolled modillions grouped in threes in gaps between windows. The regular six-window front features glazing-bar sashes with thick glazing bars and rubbed brick heads. Two hipped dormers are positioned towards the centre. A thin brick ridge stack sits towards the left end, and a large stack at the right end is shared with the front range. A single-storey 19th-century pentice projects from the front at the left end.

The rear (south) range of the courtyard possibly has a partly timber-framed mid-to-late 16th-century core, largely refaced in two periods in the late 17th or very early 18th century. The left third is in similar materials to the west elevation; the right two-thirds employ materials similar to the east elevation, with a straight joint between the two. The cornice of the east elevation continues across the whole south elevation. Two storeys and attics are present, with the roof hipped at both ends to continue along the side elevations. A stack rises in the front slope of the roof to the right of centre, and a rectangular wooden louvre sits on the ridge to the left of centre. Three hipped dormers punctuate the roof.

The regular seven-window front comprises four 19th-century sashes without glazing bars and three glazing-bar sashes—one beneath the stack is very narrow. The ground floor of the left third has two four-light ovolo-moulded mullion windows with a continuous hood-mould overhead. The right end of the elevation has two eight-light mullioned and transomed windows with plain chamfers to the outside and a mixture of plain and ovolo mouldings to the interior. A 20th-century panelled door is positioned to the right of the straight joint, and a heavy panelled possibly 18th-century door, now in a 19th-century single-storey pentice rebuilt in the 20th century, is located at the right gable end.

Interior

The front range contains a tall entrance hall with fielded panelling. A well staircase features fielded panelling and is ramped with fluted Corinthian pilasters against the wall. Small, finely-carved open string balusters—three to each tread, twisted fluted, straight fluted, and corkscrew in sequence—have a moulded hand rail and scrolled cheeks. Marquetry ornaments the half-landings. The ceiling and part of the stairwell walls are painted with mythological scenes, attributed to Lanscroon.

The ground-floor room to the right of the hall has fielded panelling, a moulded cornice, and a finely-carved fireplace surround. The ground-floor room to the left of the hall retains a deep early 18th-century cornice, fielded panelling with bolection moulded surrounds, and a fireplace flanked from floor to ceiling by fluted Corinthian pilasters with moulded abaci. The room behind this has similar panelling and cornice, with a fireplace flanked by equally imposing fluted pilasters with capitals in Doric style. First-floor rooms have plain fielded panelling and moulded cornices.

The west wing and west end of the south range house a massive fireplace in the south-west ground-floor room. A moulded beam and a door with moulded jambs and vase stops lead into this room. First-floor rooms have raised and fielded panelling and moulded dado rails. Rooms to the north contain an assortment of 17th-century panelling. A first-floor corridor in the west wing, adjacent to the courtyard, has an internal studded wall, possibly of the late 16th century. The roof is a staggered butt purlin type.

The east wing and eastern two-thirds of the south range feature a wall-post in the west wall of the east wing on the first floor. Moulded beams ornament the ground floor, and a door similar to that in the west wing is present. First-floor rooms have moulded cornices, raised and fielded panelling, and a moulded dado rail, though some has been replaced. The roof is a staggered butt purlin type.

Historical Context

The late 16th-century house was probably largely the work of Sir Thomas Fludd, who died in 1607. The front range was built for William Cage, Sheriff of Kent in 1695 and Member of Parliament for Rochester in 1702, 1710, and 1713. The brickwork is of similar character to that of Larkfield at Bradbourne (1713–1715). Late 17th and early 18th-century refacing was probably also undertaken for William Cage. An extension to the right was likely constructed for Lewis Cage around 1760.