Great Brooksend Farmhouse And Attached Stable And Walls

This farmhouse dates from the late 16th or early 17th century and has been altered and extended several times. The main changes include 18th-century modifications, late 18th-century fenestration and an L-shaped wing, and a mid-19th-century staircase wing. The roof structure was replaced in the 20th century.

Construction and Materials

The building is constructed of red brick, with English bond brickwork visible on the north-west side. The south-eastern front is rendered, and the end gables have been replaced in stock brick. The roof is gabled and covered with tiles, featuring three rendered chimneystacks: one on the north-eastern gable end, one off-centre, and a ridge stack towards the south-western end (originally an external stack). Most windows are late 18th-century wooden sash windows with 12 panes. The north-western L-wing and staircase block are built in stock brick.

Plan and Development

The original building was probably a three-bay lobby entrance house with a central hall, a parlour to the south-west, and a service end to the north-east. During the 18th century, it was extended to the south-west by one bay to accommodate a dairy and additional rooms above. A late 18th-century L-shaped service wing was added to the north-west, with attached stabling and a hayloft. In the early to mid-19th century, a projecting staircase was built adjoining the L-wing on the north-west side.

Exterior Description

The south-eastern or front elevation is rendered and has five irregularly spaced 12-pane sash windows on the first floor. The ground floor features three 12-pane sash windows, a large five-light canted bay window from the mid-20th century, and a 20th-century rendered and glazed porch with a hipped tiled roof.

The north-west side is mainly red brick in English bond brickwork dating from the 18th century or earlier, with two cross-shaped iron ties at eaves level. The gable has been rebuilt in late 18th or early 19th-century stock brick. The first floor has a mid-19th-century sash window with vertical glazing bars only and horns, while the ground floor has a blocked segmental opening.

From the north-east corner, a low early 19th-century yellow brick forecourt wall extends south-eastwards before turning south-westwards. This wall has stone coping and incorporates a central semi-circular recessed section with a 20th-century gate and two brick piers with square stone coping.

The south-west end shows 18th-century or earlier brickwork up to eaves level, but the gable was rebuilt in the later 20th century. There is a 9-pane sash window on the first floor, and a 19th-century flint and brick shelter with a hipped tiled roof is attached on the ground floor.

The north-west side of the original range is two storeys with a semi-basement. Most of this elevation is red brick with a brick stringcourse that finishes opposite the south-western chimney. There are two irregularly spaced windows on each floor, a partly slatted dairy door with lattice, and a small latticed ventilation opening above. The northern end of this front has a 19th-century staircase addition in yellow brick laid in stretcher bond, with a segmental-headed sash window with vertical glazing bars. Attached to the south-west corner is a section of 18th-century or earlier brick wall incorporating a pedestrian entrance and with a deep cemented plinth.

The later L-wing is attached to the north-west end and is one storey with attics, built in stock brick in Flemish bond with a hipped tiled roof and one cemented chimneystack. There are two cross-shaped iron ties. The north-east side has two segmental-headed casements on the ground floor and a large 19th-century tiled gable with a paired sash window with vertical glazing bars above. There is a gabled porch supported on wooden piers. The south-west side has a cross-shaped iron tie, a six-pane sash window, a first-floor casement, and a later 20th-century large bay window.

A long range of late 18th-century former stabling with hayloft over extends the L-wing to the north-west. This is built in stock brick in Flemish bond with a modillion cornice and half-hipped tiled roof. The north-east side has a series of 20th-century windows, the south-west side has stable doors, and the north-west end retains a hayloft opening, although 20th-century garage doors have been inserted beneath.

Interior

The north-eastern ground floor room of the main range has a wide boxed-in spine beam and an early 20th-century stone four-centred arched fireplace. The porch opens directly into the central ground floor room, which has a late 16th or early 17th-century ceiling with deep chamfer and similar floor joists.

A late 18th-century six-panelled door in the south-western wall leads to the south-western ground floor room. This room has a 17th-century spine beam with two-inch chamfer, an 18th-century narrow moulded cornice, and a complete late 18th-century pine panelled room with dado rail, fire surround with shelf and panels above. Adjoining to the west is a round-headed china cupboard with keystone, reeded pilasters, and a semi-circular recess with five serpentine shelves. A newspaper from March 1777, found in this room during redecorating, probably dates the panelling. The eastern china cupboard is a 20th-century copy.

Adjoining this room to the south-west is the former dairy, which can only be accessed externally through a door in the south-western elevation. The dairy contains a 17th-century brick chimneystack with deep plinth (clearly once external), a wall of chalk blocks, and an 18th-century timber partition wall. The cellar (not inspected) reportedly contains a brick bread oven.

The later service wing to the north-west contains a kitchen on the ground floor with no visible original features. The 19th-century staircase leads to a first-floor corridor in the original part of the house containing three late 16th or early 17th-century chamfered oak doorways and an 18th-century two-panel and six-panelled door. The north-western bedroom has an axial boxed-in beam. The penultimate bedroom to the south-west has an axial beam and an Edwardian fireplace with reeded pilasters.

The roof over the main range was not inspected but was reported to have been replaced in the 1970s. The roof over the later L-wing retains traces of lath and plaster, but where visible, timbers have been replaced. The former stables were not inspected internally, but it was reported that no original fittings remained.

Historical Context

Brooksend was a manor and part of the ancient possessions of the Priory of Christchurch at Canterbury. In the tenth year of King Edward II, the Prior obtained a grant of free warren for his demesne lands in this manor, amongst others. Brooksend continued in the ownership of Christchurch Priory until the Priory's suppression in the 31st year of Henry VIII. At that time, the manor came into the king's hands, but two years later he settled it on the newly formed Dean and Chapter of Canterbury.

In 1800, when Edward Hasted published his tenth volume of "History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent", it remained part of the inheritance of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral but was leased. The occupant at that time was a Mr John Friend, Junior. A large tablet to a John Friend who died in 1792 is in the Parish church of All Saints, Birchington.

Brooksend, now called Great Brooksend Farmhouse, was still in 2008 in the hands of the Church Commissioners and leased as a farm. The building appears on the 1894 and 1896 Ordnance Survey maps to its present extent but without a projecting central porch.

Significance

Great Brooksend Farmhouse is designated at Grade II as a substantially complete 18th-century building incorporating late 16th or early 17th-century features. It has good quality 18th-century brickwork visible on three sides, a brick chimneystack (formerly external), and late 18th-century sash windows, many retaining original glass. The interior retains a good quality chamfered oak ceiling of late 16th or early 17th-century date, three contemporary chamfered oak doorways to the first floor, and a complete pine panelled parlour with built-in china cupboard, dateable by a newspaper concealed at the time of construction to March 1777. Brooksend has historical interest as a medieval manor held by the Priory of Christchurch Canterbury until its suppression in the 1540s and remains in church ownership.