Ham Court And Wall Adjoining To Rear

Ham Court and adjoining wall is a house and boundary wall of complex date and construction, located in Charlton Kings.

The main building dates from the late 16th or early 17th century, with a further early 17th-century range to the far right (formerly known as staff quarters). A kitchen wing was added in the late 17th or early 18th century. Significant remodelling occurred in 1724, when the building was raised by one storey and the south front was rebuilt in brick. Further alterations were made in the 19th century.

The house is constructed of timber-frame throughout, but the materials vary by section. The front façade is faced in pinkish-brown brick in Flemish bond, sitting on a Cotswold stone plinth. The left return and part of the rear are timber-framed with plaster infill and Cotswold stone plinth. The range to the right is of Cotswold stone construction, and the former staff quarters are timber-framed. The main range has a stone slate roof, the right-hand range has renewed tiles, and the timber-framed staff quarters retain a stone slate roof.

The plan consists of two storeys and an attic in a complex arrangement: the main range is 4 first-floor windows wide with a single-storey and attic single cell to the right, and a further one-and-a-half storey single cell range forming an 'L' shape to the south.

The exterior of the main façade features an off-centre right entrance with a 6-panel part-glazed door in moulded surround, with a 20th-century porch. The ground floor has two 6/6 sash windows with hoods, a 20th-century 3-light casement and single-light casement with glazing bars. The first floor has three 6/6 sashes and a tripartite 6/6 sash between two 1/1 sashes. The attic floor has three 3/3 sashes and one 4/4 sash. All windows have moulded wood frames, sills and flat arches of gauged brick. End chimney stacks are present.

The west gable end wall displays a moulded bressumer at first-floor level with close-studding between small square panels of timber-framing containing concave lozenges. The gable shows evidence of the roof heightening. The range to the right has two ground-floor casement windows and a full dormer window to the attic, with an end stack. The former staff quarters feature small square panels of timber-framing with rendered panels between, a ridge chimney to the left, and a lean-to tiled porch to the right. Three 20th-century casement windows and a small light to the gable are present.

The interior retains a significant amount of exposed beamwork, particularly in the first-floor north-west room where the decorative timber-frame panels form a feature. The parlour beams have unstopped chamfers. The plain axial hall beam and the cross-beam by the stack have diagonal-cut stops. The hall fireplace has chamfered stone jambs and a chamfered bressumer, and retains its iron crane. The kitchen beam has a chamfer and diagonal-cut stops. A Regency open-string staircase with stick balusters and mahogany handrail is present, and doors in passages have Regency reeded doorcases with well-carved roses in the corner squares. On the first floor, further Regency doorcases are present, most with roses in the corners except in the hall chamber, which has lion-head corner ornaments. The hall chamber contains a Regency marble fireplace with circles in the corners. In the parlour chamber, two posts of timber-frame are visible.

The adjoining wall is an early 19th-century brick structure with stone coping, approximately 2 metres high and U-shaped in plan, enclosing a walled garden to the rear.

The west end wall was originally jettied with a shallow overhang; the jetty was later underbuilt in stone and brick. The brick infilling in the west wall indicates that the parlour fireplace is a later insertion. The kitchen wing is probably a later addition.

The manor of Ham was an offshoot of the manor of Cheltenham and was granted to Robert Goodrich after 1564. By 1574, Robert and Edith Goodrich were in possession. In 1574, Thomas Packer agreed to pay £400 for the property, described in 1576 as the 'Farme of Hame', presumed to be Ham Court. During the Civil War, Ham Court is reputed to have provided fodder for Royalist troops. Prince Rupert is reputed to have spent a night there. Similar square panels of timber-framing with concave lozenge panels appear at The King's House, No. 37 School Road.