Holly House And Ricardes Toft

This is a house, originally two houses, with a possible mid-14th century origin to its northern section. The building appears 16th century with alterations and an extension to the rear in the early 18th century, and was reconditioned in the late 20th century. It is timber framed and has red brick cladding on the ground floor, tile hanging on the first floor, weather boarding to the left return, and exposed framing with plaster infill to the right return. The roof is tiled.

The building has four framed bays, the northern part thought to have originally been the parlour end of a hall house, but adapted to a lobby entry plan. It has two storeys and a basement on the left side, with a half-hipped roof and a stack centrally located on the left. The windows are mostly 20th century wooden casements, with four on the first floor and two on the ground floor; there is a small oriel window centrally on the right and a ribbed and stud door centrally to the left, with a sidelight. Garage doors are visible in the basement at the left. The right return shows an exposed tension braced frame and a jetty, with some blocked mullioned windows and later studding in the hip end.

The main elevation was reclad in the late 20th century. A previous provisional list described an 18th-century rendered facade with sash windows, of which the only remaining trace is a panelled door with a flat hood on brackets in the right return. A two-storey, timber-framed and weatherboarded wing was added to the rear, with a half-hipped roof.

The interior of Ricarde’s Toft has not been inspected, but Holly House features a late 16th century open fireplace with a moulded bressumer and a sandstone surround. Much of the visible frame appears to have been erected in the 18th century, reusing earlier timbers, including timbers with sockets for diamond mullions and tops of wall frames. The front wall is from the 18th century, and the roof structure was replaced during that period. Other 18th-century features include a winder staircase and a plank door. A sandstone cellar has four niches.

Historical records indicate that a building on this site was described in the 1568 "Survey of Lamberhurst Manor." From the 18th century, the building operated as an ale and cider house, and by 1851, the northern part was a grocer's shop. It is believed that the building may predate an adjoining property, The Charity, built around 1370, as its northern section is jettied and positioned closely to it. The Ricarde family lived on the site from 1434, and an ale and cider house was run there from the 1450s.