Yew Tree Cottage

Yew Tree Cottage is a Grade II* listed house located at 181 St Leonards Street in West Malling. This building dates back to the 15th century and originally served as a Wealden hall-house. It was extended by one bay to the left in the early 19th century and further extended to the rear around 1929. The cottage is timber-framed with jetties on each side and a coved recessed center, featuring exposed down bracing and plastered infill. The roof is steeply pitched and tiled, with gablets. There is an inserted brick stack on the right and an additional external stack on the left. The cottage has three restored casement windows and a late 16th or early 17th-century oriel window in the hall. An original three-light mullioned window is located under the coving. The entrance features a 4-centred arched doorcase with blank spandrels and a 20th-century plank door.

Inside, there is a late 16th-century inglenook fireplace with niches and a ceiling that has lamb's tongue stops. The open hall features a crenellated dais beam, and there are unusual two-arched doorcases leading to the solar end. The service end also has a similar arched doorcase with a high step. Late 16th or early 17th-century panelling can be found within, along with two traces of steps for ladders. The interior includes an octagonal crown post with four head braces supporting the collar beam and a powder closet. Yew Tree Cottage is a fine example of a Wealden house, notable for its unusually complete survival of internal features.