The Old Vicarage

The Old Vicarage, Brenchley High Street

This is a house of 16th-century origins, formerly serving as a vicarage, with various phases of extension and refurbishment including a fine late 17th-century parlour. The building incorporates a former 19th-century shop (previously listed separately) and a probably early 20th-century store associated with the shop. The early parts are of framed construction: the east elevation is plastered on the ground floor and weatherboarded on the first floor; the south elevation is tile-hung with bands of scalloped tiles, all painted white. There is some exposed close-studding to the west elevation. The roof is peg-tile with brick stacks. The former shop is brick with a weatherboarded first floor and a slate roof.

The building has evolved through a complex sequence of phases. It is basically L-shaped. The east-facing entrance block is a 2-cell structure with an entrance to the right of centre leading into a passage which now extends to the far west end of the house. The right-hand (north) room, probably originally unheated, is heated from a rear lateral stack. The larger left-hand room is heated from an axial stack in the long rear left (south-west) wing, with the late 17th-century parlour beyond it, heated from a back-to-back fireplace in the same stack. The angle of the L has been filled in, probably piecemeal, by two other wings—one on a north-south axis parallel to the entrance block, and another at right angles, parallel to the rear left wing. The shop, facing north-east, encloses the complex on the High Street side. At the west end of the complex, sited behind the Bull Public House, is a single-storey kitchen, and beyond it at the extreme west end of the site is a substantial early 20th-century store. Both the entrance block and the rear left wing have plain unsooted crown post roofs of early 16th-century character; the axial stack in the wing is an insertion. The entrance block was evidently longer originally; the 19th-century shop truncates its 3-bay roof. The entire complex is sited partly within the churchyard, in its north-western corner. The location and absence of a stack or smoke-bay to the wing suggest it may have functioned as a church or guild house.

The building is 2 storeys with 3 separate cellars. It is jettied on both the east and south elevations with moulded fascias. The asymmetrical entrance (east) elevation has 3 windows and a central 18th-century panelled front door with a rectangular overlight. On the ground floor left is an early 19th-century 4-pane sash; to the right is an early 19th-century canted bay with a central 16-pane sash and flanking 8-pane lights. The 3 first-floor windows are 3-light transomed casements with square leaded panes and quadrant catches. The leadwork was found to be dated to the 1740s during repair. The roof is hipped at the left end and gabled at the right end, with a rear right lateral stack. The south elevation has 3 windows: on the ground floor, a 19th-century panelled recessed door to the right, two 16-pane early 19th-century sashes, and a 20th-century pane sash to the ground floor right; the first floor has two 3-light transomed casements with square-headed panes matching those on the east elevation, and a small 1-light transomed window between them. The 19th-century shop elevation facing the High Street has a 2-leaf 19th-century half-glazed door in the centre with a rectangular overlight, flanked by large 19th-century shop windows (24-pane to the right and two 8-pane to the left), with a 12-pane window at the extreme left. The first floor has two 16-pane sashes and, at the extreme right, a loft door. A wide horizontal canopy projects at first-floor level. The roof is slate, gabled at the ends.

The interior is very unspoiled and important both for its 16th-century carpentry and an exceptionally fine late 17th-century parlour. Parts of the 16th-century frame with jowled wall posts and large tension braces survive, including a mullioned window (now internal and blocked) on the rear first-floor wall of the east block and another on the inner first-floor wall of the south-west wing. The southern ground-floor room in the east block preserves chamfered stopped ceiling beams, including a dragon beam. The late 17th-century parlour (the west room in the south-west wing) is remarkable, with its original scheme of painted decoration almost perfectly intact. A large bolection-moulded chimneypiece is covered with painted marbling, and the overmantel incorporates 3 integral late 17th-century landscape paintings, including architectural features and figures. The walls are panelled in 2 tiers of oyster-painted imitation walnut, the lower tiers with heart-shaped motifs in the corners and central floral motifs. The painted scheme extends across the inner face of the 2-panel door to the room and across the door to a walk-in cupboard adjacent to the stack. The outer face of the door was also originally painted and this may survive below the existing gloss. The ceiling beams are cased in timber carved with lozenges and, like the fielded panel shutters, show evidence of the remains of painting. The scheme probably dates from circa 1690. The right-hand (northern) room in the east block is plastered with a probably 18th-century timber-moulded chimneypiece. The left-hand room includes a fitted 18th-century corner cupboard. The 19th-century shop incorporates fittings of interest, including a mahogany-topped counter complete with drawers and a bank of fitted spice drawers.

The east and south-west wings have crown post roofs: 2-bay to the south-west wing and 3 bays plus to the east wing, where the roof has been truncated by the addition of the shop. The crown posts are slightly chamfered with step stops and 3-way bracing—twice to the collar purlin, once to the tie beam. The braces are not all intact, and in the south-west wing one bay has been interrupted by the stack. The east wing roof timbers are covered with graffiti, much of which is late 19th-century and includes interesting comments on local people. The 19th-century shop has a king post and strut roof with pegged joints.

This is an extremely interesting and very unspoiled traditional house.