Merestones

Merestones is a house dating from around 1700, with extensions made in the mid-18th century and mid-19th century. It is constructed of chalk ashlar on a sarsen base and features a stone slate roof with brick stacks. The building has a U-plan layout with a two-unit front range, standing two stories tall and comprising a three-window range.

The mid-19th century includes a trellised porch leading to a four-panelled door with an over light. The windows are mid-19th century sashes with margin lights, featuring timber lintels above the first floor, while the ground floor has an original chalk lintel and a mid-19th century brick soldier arch. The gabled roof is topped with a fine central stack that has a recessed panel and moulded detail at the top.

Inside, there are original fireplaces with chalk and timber lintels. The central through passage has a mid-19th century dado, and there are mid-19th century four-panelled doors throughout. The rear left features a stone flag floor, and the rear right has a mid-19th century dog-leg staircase with a landing, closed-string square newels with carved details, and turned finials. Original plank and panelled doors with strap hinges are present at the first and attic floor levels, with the two attic doors framed in timber with chamfered and stopped frames. The original common rafter roof with butt purlins is also intact.

At the rear left, there is an 18th-century stepped chalk stack, which blocks an original window, adjacent to a mid-19th century brick and tile lean-to. A mid-19th century brick and tile lean-to fills in the original yard at the rear. Additionally, there is a mid-18th century one-bay block at the rear right made of Flemish bond brick and uncoursed chalk rubble, while a mid-19th century wing at the front right has been demolished.