Description

TQ 67 41 BRENCHLEY HIGH STREET, BRENCHLEY
(north side)
15/95 Church House
20.10.54 (previously listed as Church
House and Church Cottage)
GV II

House, incorporating a cottage which was formerly a separate property. Circa
early/mid C17 origins, re-fronted in the early C18 with some C20 internal
alterations. Main block framed construction, the front elevation clad in
weatherboarding, chamfered and grooved in imitation of rusticated stone, the
right return tile-hung. The adjoining cottage is brick on the ground floor,
first floor tile-hung over framing. Peg-tile roofs; stacks with brick shafts.

Plan: The main block faces south, directly on to the road, the cottage forms
a rear right (north east) wing, fronting Windmill Hill giving an overall L-
plan. The main block is 3-rooms wide, the 2 left hand rooms heated from back-
to-back fireplaces in an axial stack, the right end room unheated. It
probably originally had a lobby entrance facing the stack. The C18 re-
fronting involved moving the front door to right of centre, directly into the
right hand heated room. A C20 stair rises from the rear of this room, within
the rear right cottage wing. Flat-roofed single-storey C20 addition to the
rear left (north west) of the main block. The cottage is probably C18 or
earlier in origin with 2 axial stacks, it may have functioned as the service
wing to the C18 house.

Exterior: 2 storeys and attic. Handsome asymmetrical 4-bay front with a
parapet on paired brackets. C18 front door with 4 fielded panels in the first
bay from the right (east) with a fanlight with spoke glazing bars and a gabled
porch hood on moulded brackets. Disused panelled door at the extreme left
end. 3 ground floor tripartite horned sashes in C18 openings, 6 panes over
one in the centre, 2 over one in the outer lights. 3 first floor 16-pane
horned sashes with a 12-pane horned sash above the front door. All the
windows have moulded architraves. The roof is half-hipped, the axial stack
has a moulded cornice. The right return of the main block, overlooking
Windmill Hill, has one attic window, a probably C18 3-light casement with
square leaded panes and a first floor 12-pane sash. Beyond the main block the
cottage wing has 2 ground floor windows, one 3-light C20 casement and one
probably C18 3-light casement with square leaded panes and a large first floor
circa early C20 gabled dormer with a 3-tier window.

Interior: Exposed carpentry with evidence of repair and re-use of timbers.
The left hand heated room has a C17 fireplace with jambs of large sandstone
blocks and a chamfered lintel. Exposed carpentry in most of the first floor
rooms of the main block. Circa early C19 stick baluster stair to the attic.

Roof: Timbers concealed by plaster.

Church House occupies a crucial position in an outstanding village, sited
opposite the church and on a prominent corner site.

Listing NGR: TQ6796241806

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26541725

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

• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)