Description

TQ 56 43 BIDBOROUGH FRANKS HOLLOW ROAD

11/3 The Chalet

GV II

Norwegian chalet. Probably late C19, re-erected in Bidborough in 1906 and eventually given to the China Inland Missionary Society who use it as a holiday cottage for missionaries (information from Bidborough Parish Council). Norwegian framed construction on a brick plinth, the frame clad in narrow horizontal weatherboarding with some vertical panels; gabled slate roof; axial brick stack.

Plan: The house faces east. It is double depth and approximately rectangular on plan. The main block is roofed on an east west axis with a south east wing at right angles with a rear (west) outshut. Principal entrance on the east side facing a stair with a second entrance into the south end of the outshut.

Exterior: 2 storeys with an attic to the outshut. Deep eaves and verges throughout, the gables infilled with variously decorated boarding, the bargeboards moulded. Asymmetrical east elevation, gabled to the front at the right with 4 ground floor windows and 2 first floor windows, the panelled front door is in an outshut, set back at the extreme right end. One first and one ground floor 4-pane fixed window to the left. The other ground floor windows are 2 pane with diagonal glazing bars to the upper panes, one first floor window with a pair of round-headed lights with high transoms in a square frame. The south return has a pair of 4-pane ground sashes and 3 first floor casements, 2 panes per light. The outshut entrance, to the left, has a flight of 4 steps with plank balustrades with pierced roundels in the planks and newels with ball finials. The steps are under a sloping gabled roof with a finial on the outer gable and a 2-leaf half-glazed inner door. To the left of the outshut entrance there is a 3-light casement with a high transom and triangular head. 3 similar windows on the west side of the outshut form an enclosed verandah with nicely shaped posts between the windows; rectangular roof dormer above. The west end of the main range has a 3-light ground floor casement, matching those with diagonal glazing bars in the east elevation and a first floor casement with round-headed lights. The north elevation has an outshut supported on a brick pier to the right, with steps up to a door. To the left a one-light window with diagonal glazing bars lights the entrance and there is one first and one ground floor 2-light casement in the centre.

Interior: Not inspected but likely to be of interest.

An interesting example of a re-sited building, said to be very complete down to the door and window furniture.

Listing NGR: TQ5643243134

External Links

• Wikidata Q26541014

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

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)