Bushmead, Elham House and Jay Cottage

Bushmead, Elham House and Jay Cottage is a house of brick with flint bands and brick dressings, rendered to all but the rear elevation, dating primarily to the late 18th century, although with significant additions at the end of the 19th century. The roof is tiled in fish-scale pattern, with moulded brick stacks along the ridge. The house comprises a main range with a central, projecting bay and a porch, flanked by cross-wings to either end; the left-hand wing and the porch were added at the end of the 19th century. All sections are of one and a half storeys. A rear range, originally late 19th-century galleries attached to the house by a connecting range, was converted to dwellings after the connecting range was demolished in the late 20th century.

The front elevation is symmetrical, with a five-window range and gabled cross-wings that project forward. The left (north-west) wing has a large, three-light mullioned and transomed window beneath a square head. The central range features a projecting, gabled entrance bay with a tripartite Tuscan porch of ashlar and a moulded entablature, now glazed and with late 20th-century double doors. Flanking the entrance are a two-light window and a doorway (formerly a window), each under a gabled hood. The upper floor has four casement windows set within gablets. The right-hand cross-wing mirrors the left with a matching mullioned and transomed window. The south-facing return has a projecting entrance porch in the centre and a recessed late 19th-century plank door, with a two-light casement on either side and two dormer windows in the roof. The rear (north-east) elevation exhibits exposed flint and brick banding and a similar style to the front. It includes a central projecting bay with a moulded brick stack and two roof lights, with single-storey lean-to additions to either side. The windows are mostly two-light casements with horizontal glazing bars, leaded lights, segmental brick heads, and gabled dormers to the upper floor. A window has been blocked on the ground floor, and the left-hand lean-to features a late 20th-century window and sliding patio doors. An entrance with a late 20th-century door is located on the south-east side of the north cross-wing, and a patio door and a casement window are present on the north-west return at ground floor level, with three regularly-spaced dormer windows above.

The interior has been divided into three separate dwellings and retains little of historic interest. Both cross-wings have 19th-century roof carpentry, without decorative details. The interior of the central section, now known as Elham House, was not inspected.