Description

TQ 75 NE BOXLEY

5/48 Boxley Abbey House
20.10.52

G.V. II*

Part of Boxley Abbey (Cistercian), incorporating part of the
west range and possibly part of Abbot's house; once a large
L-plan house,of which the present house is a fragment. Abbey
founded in 1146 by William of Ypres, Earl of Kent and dissolved
in 1538; some C16 work; house built in early C18. Stone core
with red brick front and plain tile roof. 3 storeys. North
elevation (entrance front): no plinth, but about 1' at base of
ground floor is in coursed galletted. stone, with red brick in
Flemish bond above. Platt band above ground-floor and first-
floor windows, and very deep dentilled and moulded wood eaves
cornice. Roof of 4 small ridges parallel to front elevation.
Small projecting C19 and C20 end stacks, that to right towards
front and that to left towards rear. Shallow brick buttress at
right end. Regular 4-window front of recessed glazing-bar sashes
with thick glazing bars. 4th window on the first floor at the
left end is a tall round-headed stair window with windows
above and below it blocked. C19 panelled door under depressed
rubbed brick arch in small C19 brick loggia to left. Print of 1801
shows door in place of right ground-floor window with another 2
windows to the right of it, and a wing at right-angles to the
front at the left end, along the west range of the Abbey.
Left end elevation (east) left half built in stone to eaves
level, rest in red brick in header bond with irregular courses
of stretchers. Right end elevation (west): ground floor in
galletted stone, possibly C16, with brick in Flemish bond above.
Bell under semi-circular hood on third gable from front. Rear
elevation (south): ground floor in stone, possibly C16. Deep
moulded wood eaves cornice. Large C16 coursed and galletted
stone stack on plinth, finished at top in brick crow-steps with
rectangular, corniced, brick plinth above and 3 diagonally set
brick flues. Rear wing at right end of rear elevation: C19.
Roughly coursed stone with brick dressings and plain tile roof.
2 storeys with brick end stack, central dormer and 2 first-floor
glazing bar sashes. Interior: very thick internal walls on
ground floor with 3 possibly original openings, one with 2-centred
ached head, moulded jambs and broach stop. Early C18 staircase
from ground to second floor. Some C18 panelling and cornices
on first floor. First floor doors with eared architraves and
fielded panels, second floor doors with fielded panels. East part
of house scheduled as Ancient Monument. P.J. Tester, "Excava-
tions at Boxley Abbey", in Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 88, 1974.
Beneath and slightly to the left an arched door-head with cham-
fered jambs, no voussoirs and base covered by ground. Right end
contains a pointed ground-floor window centrally placed between
the blocked door and the right gable end. On the first-floor
above it and slightly to the left an inserted wood-framed
window obscures an original oblong opening. Inserted ground-
floor door between pointed window and door to left. Small
inserted window under eaves at right end. Interior: Divided into
3 sections corresponding with the changes in window. Narrow
central area marked by original stone cross-walls with (probably
much later) timber partitions above them between the tie-beams
and the apex of the roof. South side of central area, not recessed
for a floor and containing the mid-height pointed window, may be
stair area. Side walls of east and west sections recessed for
floor, that in east section lower than that in west. 3 chamfered
posts on stone pads, braced to carry floor, 2 with cross-beams
intact, remain in centre of ground floor in west section. Stone
doors in north end of both cross-walls on ground and first
floors, with chamfered jambs and broach stops, and jambs of
another in south end of west wall on first floor.Plain ground
floor fireplace in north wall of east section served by stack
external on first-floor. Roof to east of opposed barn doors
rebuilt, probably in the early C19. 5 regularly-spaced trusses
including one with tie-beam embedded in east gable. Straight
king posts carrying ridge-piece. Each has 2 evenly-spaced
parallel tiers of straight braces to principal rafters. Tie-
beams also braced to principal rafters, at steeper angle.
Principal rafters carry 4 tiers of slightly staggered butt side
purlins. Rest of roof has rafters of relatively uniform scantling,
scissor-braced, with collars and ashlar pieces, forming 7 cants,
10 tie-beams, 2 of which are clearly replacements and the
remainder possibly re-used; 6 morticed for cornice, wall (or
pendant) posts, and braces, and 2 unmorticed over original stone
cross walls. Progressive rebuilding has taken place:- the area
between the cast cross wall and the king-post roof may be
original, that between the cross walls is differently marked
and may be slightly later. The area to the west of the west
cross-wall was carefully rebuilt in 2 stages in the C18. The
whole presents a remarkably uniform appearance.

Listing NGR: TQ7610358681

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17545110

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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