Ashmede

TQ 64 SE BRENCHLEY CROOKE ROAD, Castle Hill

6/63 Ashmede

II

House. Late C16/early C17, circa 1930s addition. Framed construction, the ground floor underbuilt in brick in 2 phases, mostly Flemish bond with blue headers, first floor tile-hung; peg-tile roof; brick stack.

Plan: The house faces north. 3 room lobby entrance plan, the 2 right hand (west) rooms, hall in the centre and parlour to the right, heated from back- to-back fireplaces in an axial stack with an unheated service room at the left (east) end: partition between the service room and hall removed. Circa 1930s one-room plan addition at the left (east) end. Rear right outshut off the parlour; right end outshut.

Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4-window front; roof hipped at left end, half-hipped at right end; stack with staggered triple shafts with corbelled brick cornice; 1930s plank door to the lobby entrance to right of centre. The brick underbuilding alongside the door to the right (west) is earlier than the brickwork to the left. 1930s 2-light iron-framed casements with diamond leaded panes, 4 to the first floor, 3 to the ground floor plus one to the right end outshut. 1930s timber-framed porch on the left (east) return. The rear elevation prserves a circa early C17 3-light ovolo-moulded mullioned window to ground floor right (east) lighting the service room.

Interior: Well-preserved carpentry and joinery. Ceiling beams with scroll and step stops to the ground and first floor rooms. The hall fireplace has a chamfered lintel and rebuilt jambs, the parlour fireplace has a chamfered lintel and a rather awkwardly-sited crossbeam close to the lintel. The first floor preserves several C17 plank doors. The chamber over the hall has an open fireplace with a chamfered lintel and brick jambs. The wall-framing includes wall posts with flared jowls and tension braces.

Roof: Clasped purlin roof. Over the east end a probably C18 scissor brace has been added.

A traditional house of the region with good interior features.

Listing NGR: TQ6928842337