Peckhams

Peckhams is a house, formerly a farmhouse, of particular architectural and historical importance. The main western part dates to circa 1405, with significant alterations around 1650. The house was re-fronted in the 18th century and extended eastwards, with many windows replaced in the 20th century, some following bomb damage. A central north extension was added in the 1960s or 1970s.

The building is timber-framed, with the western part re-fronted in brick and some tile-hanging above. The eastern part is constructed of flint with brick lacing courses and dressings, and tile-hanging to the upper floor. The roof is hipped with Horsham stone slabs to the lower part and plain tiles above, with three ridge chimneystacks and a prominent flint and stone external chimneystack on the south side incorporating a sandstone arch and reused Roman tiles.

Originally a three-bay medieval hall house, the plan comprised a central open hall heated by a massive stone axial fireplace to the south, a solar to the west containing stairs to a chamber above, and a service end to the east, possibly also with a chamber above. The open hall was ceiled over in two phases, the eastern end possibly with a smoke bay in the mid-16th century, and in the mid-17th century a brick chimneystack was inserted between the hall and solar with hearths heating two rooms on each floor. The building was extended further eastwards in the 18th century.

The south or garden front comprises four bays. The end bay and penultimate bay are of un-knapped flint with brick lacing courses. The penultimate bay features a massive flint and stone axial chimneystack with a plinth, broken through in the centre to reveal a sandstone cambered arch with reused Roman tiles between it and a relieving arch. Below the arch is a 20th-century round-headed door flanked by round-headed arches, above which is an eight-pane wooden sash window. The sides of the fireplace retain stones with holes for supporting cooking pot racks, courses of reused Roman tiles, and an alcove, possibly for seating, on the west side. The central bay has been faced in 20th-century brick in stretcher bond to the ground floor and is tile-hung above, with a tripartite sash on the first floor and five-light ground floor casements. The next bay is of un-knapped flint with brick lacing and has a cambered casement window on the ground floor altered from a doorcase, with tripartite casements to each floor. The end bay is of brick, with a cambered entrance to the left.

The west side is clad in 18th-century brickwork in Flemish bond with grey headers and a brick stringcourse, featuring a 10-pane first floor sash and tripartite ground floor sash, both with rubbed brick voussoirs.

The north side comprises four bays with a projecting penultimate bay to the west. The west bay has a tile-hung first floor and brick ground floor in English bond, with a first floor casement and two ground floor sash windows, one tripartite. The projecting bay is a 1960s or 1970s extension with a tile-hung first floor and brick ground floor in Flemish bond, featuring a central entrance with a mid-20th-century oak door under a flat wooden hood. The penultimate bay to the east has a flint-faced ground floor and tile-hung first floor with a casement window to the first floor and a tripartite sash to the ground floor. The end bay and east side are constructed of flint with brick lacing courses to the east side.

The kitchen retains an open fireplace and an axial beam with iron hooks. The timber-framed partition wall with a midrail between the kitchen and dining room was the original eastern external wall. The dining room, originally the service end of the hall house, has a circa 1650 brick fireplace, two 20th-century linenfold panelled cupboards, and a flagstone floor. The lounge, formerly the open hall, retains a circa 1405 bread oven with an arched stone opening and domed roof possibly of reused Roman tiles. The room features circa 1650 ceiling beams comprising two axial beams and chamfered floor joists, and a large stone circa 1650 chimneypiece with a wooden bressumer. The study at the western end, originally the solar, contains circa 1405 square section ceiling beams, a circa 1650 stone fireplace with a wooden bressumer, and exposed wall frame with evidence for a trimmer and partitioning for stairs in the north-west corner.

Access to the first floor is now via a staircase in the 20th-century addition. The upstairs corridor has the external north wall frame exposed, including jowelled bay posts and a midrail. The western bedroom, originally the chamber above the solar, has a circa 1650 stone fireplace and exposed wall frame with a midrail. The partition wall between this room and the next bedroom features very long diagonal braces, as does the partition wall between this and the adjoining bedroom to the east; these were the partition walls to the open hall. The bedroom over the dining room has a similar circa 1650 brick fireplace, a spine beam with exposed floor joists, and wall frame with a midrail retaining a shutter groove. Wide oak floorboards carry carpenters' marks. The rafters over the three 1405 bays are pegged and without a ridge board. Of the original crown post roof, only the two crown posts over the western solar end survive, the western one retaining both down and up braces and the eastern one missing an up brace. The roof over the open hall was later reconstructed with staggered butt purlins, reusing some earlier sooted rafters. The former service wing was reconstructed with clasped purlins but retains some sooted medieval rafters, with a pair of intact original collared rafters at each end of the bay. The inserted chimneystack between the hall and solar is of flint with stone quoins and brick flues. The roof of the 18th-century eastern part contains reused rafters and ties with raking struts and a ridgeboard.

Attached to the house on the west side is a late 18th-century or early 19th-century flint boundary and garden wall with curved coping. To the south-east of the house this is linked to an outbuilding of similar date constructed of flint and brick, replaced in brick on the east side, with a gabled thatched roof. A well with a circular sandstone parapet is situated approximately two metres from the north side of the kitchen.