Horstead House And Outbuildings

Horstead House and its outbuildings are a former manor house dating back to 1620, with significant alterations and additions from the 18th and 19th centuries. The house is constructed of knapped flint with brick dressings and red brick, featuring black and red pantiled roofs. The building originally followed an 'L' shape, with two storeys and attics, and later additions included a cellar and a two-storey section within the eastern internal angle.

The north-south wing, likely dating from the 17th century, was restyled in the early 18th century and subsequently shortened by about a third around 1960. The west elevation serves as the main entrance facade, displaying three bays of knapped flint interspersed with two slightly projecting bays of brickwork. A central rubbed brick doorcase is present, featuring rusticated pilasters and a plain moulded entablature. The entrance door is a raised and fielded six-panel door within an oak frame and architrave. The 19th-century windows within the brick bays are stone casements with timber frames and transoms at ground floor level. A single-story canted bay, added in the 19th century, is located on the left side, with a plinth, moulded brick string course, and a battlemented parapet.

Other details include a high brick plinth, a rubbed brick cornice at the attic floor level, a battlemented parapet, and curved gables with windows above the brick bays. The north gable wall has two windows; these are 19th-century sashes with glazing bars set within flat gauged brick arches. The rebuilt south gable incorporates a relocated sundial from the former gable. Two external chimney stacks are now incorporated into the 19th-century fabric.

The south-east wing extends the original wing and is marked by its gable parapet and chimney. It originally had one window, but now displays four. It features a flint plinth, 18th-century cross windows with wrought iron casements, leaded lights, and gauged brick arches at ground floor level, and brick on edge at the first floor. Moulded timber eaves are present. The east gable exhibits a window within a larger, earlier opening with a segmental arch, a platband at attic floor level, and a “witch’s window” below the gable stack, including tie irons dated 1735. Dormers feature timber pedimented gables and two-light casements with lead glazing.

The wing continues on a single storey to the east, and contains a reset 17th-century panelled and studded oak door within a moulded frame. A matching 19th-century wing is on the north-east, characterized by casement windows, flat gauged arches, and battlemented parapets. Attached outbuildings to the north-east, dating from the 18th century, have an 'L' shaped plan constructed of knapped flint with steeply pitched hipped roofs. A good mid-18th century marble fireplace is present, along with a sundial dated 1747. Historical records indicate that Henry Palmer, a former owner, married Elizabeth Langley in 1735.