Description

TQ 64 NW CAPEL TUDELEY LANE (off), SOMERHILL
PARK
1/301 Park Farmhouse

GV II

Farmhouse of the home farm of Somerhill, now part of the Hadlow Estate.
Probably 1850, architect unknown to date. Framed construction on brick
footings; tiled roof with bands of scalloped tiles; brick stacks. Vernacular
Revival style, freely using elements of C17 traditional south east
architecture.

Plan: Part of a designed Victorian farmstead with contemporary farmbuildings
in a style to match the house. The layout of the group is picturesquely
irregular and organized to look attractive as well as being functional. The
house faces south, the west elevation overlooking the farm lane. It is sited
south of and above the dairy, which is elaborately-detailed and the first
building on the approach to the farmstead. Other buildings in the group are
the turkey house to the east and a combination building including a milking
parlour, sited to the south with a show front facing the farm lane which
carries on past the group to the estate laundry. The farmhouse is roofed on a
west east axis with gabled wings at right angles on the south side,
overlooking the dairy.

Exterior: 2 storeys. Gabled roofs with deep eaves and moulded bargeboards to
the gables. Multiple and clustered chimneyshafts, some octagonal, some
diagonally-set, with corbelled brick cornices. Close-studded framing with
diagonal braces, the gables more elaborately treated including curved braces.
Asymmetrical 1:1 window entrance (north) elevation, gabled to the front at the
right. Gabled porch to the left, the side walls timber-framed with sections
of open balustrades with barleysugar balusters; porch seats. Original Tudor
arched plank and cover strip front door. 2-light casement windows, some
retaining their original glazing of square leaded panes. The first floor
window in the main block, above the porch, is a gabled dormer. The west
elevation, overlooking the farm lane, is particularly showy. The gable end of
the main block, to the right, has a jettied gable with a moulded fascia to the
jetty. Below the jetty a section of open balustrade with barleysugar
balusters is supported on a projecting beam at first floor level. The beam,
carried on curved braces has a moulded fascia. 2-light ground floor casement,
the outer top corners of the timber frame ornamented with carved fleur-de-lis;
carvings on the central mullion and below the sill. 2-light casement in the
gable, both windows glazed with square leaded panes. The side elevation of
the rear wing, set back to the left, is blind with a lateral stack and steps
down to the cellar. The right (east) return of the main block has a Tudor
arched doorway with an original door to the left and 2 2-light casements.
Rear elevation in the same style with 3 gables to the north and a single-
storey projection with a 2-span roof.

Interior: Not inspected but may retain original joinery and fireplaces.

George Devey was employed on the Somerhill Estate (information from Dr. Jill
Allibone) although there is no documentary evidence known to date to connect
him with Park Farm.

Listing NGR: TQ6157845026

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26545804

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)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)