Description

LENHAM LENHAM HEATH ROAD
TQ 94 NW (north side)
Lenham Heath
Vine House

7/193

(Formerly listed as:
The Bull Inn)

II

House, formerly a public house. Late C18 or early C19 with C19 rear extension. Refurbished in later C20. The C20 porch and north western C20 toilet block are not of special interest.

PLAN: Double depth, two bay, building of two storeys and attics with staircase in north-western corner and three rooms to ground and first floors. This was modified by the addition of a single-storey kitchen extension to the north-west.

EXTERIOR: Stuccoed on Kentish ragstone foundations with half-hipped pegged roof with three tall stuccoed external chimneystacks and a further tall brick chimneystack to the rear. The south or entrance front has two C20 flat-roofed dormers to the attic. Below are two 20-pane sash windows with horns, with cambered heads to the ground floor windows. There is a central late C20 gabled porch but the original front door with six fielded panels survives behind. The east side elevation has three windows and the west side one small window. The north elevation has a triparite casement to the first floor under a cambered arch and narrower window below. The western end is obscured by a painted brick single-storey wing with gabled slate roof. This has a C20 uPVC window and C20 door.

INTERIOR: Access is directly into the south-western room which has a C20 ceiling beam and C20 brick fireplace. The north-west ground floor room has a C20 fireplace bressumer and internal partition wall of thin timber scantling with diagonal braces and marks of nail holes and wet plaster. The south-east ground floor room has an inter-war brick fireplace. A half-winder wooden staircase leads to the cellar which is constructed of Kentish ragstone and has a coved brick support for the south-western fireplace and a barrel shute. the main staircase is of dogleg type with stick balusters and chamfered newel posts. A first floor bedroom has a moulded wooden fire surround with mid-C19 round headed arched cast iron firegrate. There are two-panelled doors with L-hinges and some four-panelled doors. A further bedroom has a brick inter-war fireplace. The attic contains a four-panelled door and a plank door.

HISTORY: The building is shown as The Bull PH on the 1885 Ordnance Survey map with an L-shaped footprint similar to the current one and there were separate stables to the north-west (later converted into a residence). On the 1897 and 1908 maps a further outbuilding is shown attached to the eastern side which no longer exists. Later a single-storey toilet block was added to the west. Soon after 1884 the building ceased to be a public house and was converted into residential use. Since then a small rear extension and a front porch were added.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
* The late-C18 or early-C19 two bay, double depth, plan form is substantially intact with the addition of an L-wing shown on the 1885 OS map and some minor C20 additions. Internally the north-west staircase and many room divisions survive;
* The external fabric is mainly original on Kentish ragstone foundations;
* Externally the building is little altered except for a porch addition but the original front door survives underneath;
* Internally much original joinery survives including staircase, doors and a fire surround and the cellar retains a barrel shute, an interesting reminder of the building's earlier use as a public house.

Listing NGR: TQ9081349830

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26410019

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.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)