Rowley Farmhouse

Rowley Farmhouse is a late 16th-century timber-framed house originally designed as an early smoke bay house, featuring a cross passage behind the smoke bay. It has been altered and extended in the 20th century. The house originally consisted of a main range running north to south and a wing at the north end of the west side that projects westward. Both sections are two storeys high with attics and comprise five bays. The ground floor has post and panel timber framing with brick infill, while the first floor is tile hung. The roof is tiled, and there is a wide chimney breast topped with a pair of square-section brick stacks dating from around 1700.

Inside, the central ground floor room features a 16th-century open fireplace and low chamfered joists. The timber framing retains mortices for the smoke bay, and there is a moulded dais beam typical of an open hall, along with panelling and a sphere to keep out draughts. The main upright posts have jowls. The front service room was transformed into an elegant panelled parlour with a corner niche in the late 17th century. The first-floor bedroom at the north end is now open to the roof, and the north gable contains remnants of an attic window with wooden mullions. There is also a detached kitchen at the back, consisting of two bays with smoke-blackened rafters. The house was owned by the Culpeper family, as noted in Joan M Harding's "Four Centuries of Charlwood Houses."