Ford Place And Wall To North

Ford Place is a country house, of which only the south wing survives. It dates to around 1600, with elements from 1582 and 1605 marked on the chimney stacks, though the armorials are 20th-century replacements. The house was probably built by William Clarke, evidenced by a brass memorial to him dated 1611 in Wrotham Church. The north and west facades are of red brick with stone dressings, while the south side is of brick and coursed rubble on the ground floor, with the first floor rendered. A stringcourse runs above the ground floor on the north side. The roof is tiled, with three gables to the north, elaborately decorated with steps, quarter-circles and lunettes. A large, stepped gable is present on the west side, punctuated by three chimney-breasts with tall stacks on the south side. The north side has a regular three-window arrangement on the first floor, featuring mullioned and transom windows constructed of rubbed brick to resemble stone. Two similar windows are blocked on the first floor of the west end, while the ground floor exhibits irregular fenestration on both the north and south fronts. A 20th-century boarded door, set within a moulded surround, is located on the right side of the west facade. Inside, the roof consists of collar purlins with crown posts, with some modifications and re-use at the east end of the block. One first-floor room contains linenfold panelling, while another has a stone chimney-piece with an arabesque lintel, featuring two squirrels beneath a blackbird in cherry. The west drawing room contains a large fireplace with a bressumer. A wall, attached to the west end of the north side, likely dates back to the 16th century, but has been patched in later phases. It is constructed of coursed rubble stone at the base, and red and blue brick above, probably marking the site of a former courtyard screen wall. The wall is approximately 6 feet high and 30 yards long, with a blocked gateway visible in the centre. The house passed to the Bartholomew and Geary families of West Peckham in the 18th century, after which it was reduced to a farmhouse status and sold. It was restored from a state of semi-dereliction in the 1920s and is now divided into two properties.