Lughurst

Lughurst is a timber-framed house on Fittleworth Road at Wisborough Green, dating to the mid-late 16th century with a slightly later range added no later than the mid-17th century. Later alterations and a modern glazed lean-to on the front elevation of no special interest have been added.

The oldest part of the building is a two-bay box-framed range aligned north-south, with curved braces and later brick nogging in stretcher bond on a brick plinth. The house probably originally had a left-central door, though the entrance is now positioned further to the south, possibly where a window originally stood—evidence of a mid-rail is visible here, and mid-rails are also present in the northernmost bay. Only one window lights the upper floor of this elevation. The northern end wall is of random rubble with a large end stack, beyond which stands a later, probably Victorian, timber lean-to. The southern return is a slightly later timber-framed extension, likely dating no later than the mid-17th century. Externally, this section is concealed beneath brick cladding in Flemish bond to the ground floor (appearing early 18th or early 19th century in date) and 20th-century board and timber studs above, where old photographs show there was originally tile-hanging. This range has a brick end wall and stack. The rear of the building has been clad in brick—Flemish bond to the rear of the later range, stretcher bond elsewhere—probably inserted at the same time as the nogging to the main elevation was altered, possibly in the 19th century, and has since been painted. The pitched roof is hipped at the corner of the L and covered in tiles.

Inside, the main northern room contains an open fireplace with timber bressumer and mantle shelf. Within the stack is a simply-carved stone corbel, and a built-in cupboard stands to the right of the hearth. To the south is a smaller room, accessed from the main room through a segmental-arched door with chamfered posts and stops. The rear western room has a brick stack with timber bressumer. The exposed beams throughout have chamfers and carved stops and are wooden pegged. Upstairs, most wall and partition surfaces are exposed, including girding beams and arch braces. The roof is partly concealed except for the tie beams and the lower portions of a central post (either a crown-post or king-post, most likely the former in West Sussex), though presumed to be intact. The upper portion of the brick stack is visible in the corner of the upper rear floor room, along with a fireplace now blocked up that once used this flue.

A will dated 29 November 1599 belonging to Thomas Strudwicke refers to Lughurst, and the timber-frame of part of the current house is consistent with a mid-late 16th-century date. Lughurst originally comprised a two-bay house, with an additional range added to the rear at a slightly later date, creating its current L-shaped plan. The timber lean-to on the north wall was present by 1875 when it was mapped, while the glazed lean-to on the front is post-World War II.

The house is designated for its mid-late 16th-century date with early-to-mid 17th-century addition, its surviving timber box-frame with curved braces, roof structure, and two substantial end stacks.