Description

TQ 53 37
16/502

SPELDHURST
OLD GROOMBRIDGE
GROOMBRIDGE HILL (off east side),
Groombridge Place

20.10.54

GV
I
Small moated mansion. Built for Philip Packer on a medieval moated site between 1652-1674, according to John Evelyn who mentioned in his diary that a new house had been built since his previous visit. There is no trace of medieval fabric here. Minor but high quality modernisations circa 1700, miraculously little since then, carefully renovated in 1919 by H.S. Mountain.

Flemish bond red brick (not entirely consistent) with odd burnt headers; sandstone ashlar dressings and chamfered plinth. Brick stacks with mostly original brick tall chimneyshafts (those on the northern side are panelled over moulded sandstone cornices). Peg-tile roof.

Plan: H-plan mansion facing basically west. For a house of this quality and date the plan is somewhat old-fashioned. Central hall with opposing front and back doorways at the right (south) end. Front doorway to lobby entrance onto the back of the service staircase. Hall has a projecting rear lateral stack. Crosswings each end project equally front and back. Kitchen crosswing at the right (south) end includes a small parlour at the front but the rest is taken up by the kitchen. Both rooms have projecting outer lateral stack. Parlour crosswing the other end has a large front parlour, a smaller one at the back with the main stair between from a lobby off the hall. Rooms of both crosswings have projecting outer lateral stacks. This is basically the original layout although the front main parlour was refurbished, and the front windows changed circa 1700. Two storeys with attics in the roof space and half basement below.

Exterior: symmetrical 2:3:2-window front of circa 1700 18-pane sashes with fat glazing bars, all in original openings with rubbed brick flat arches over. Chamfered stone plinth to the half basement with stone mullioned windows on the inner sides of the wings. Symmetry maintained by two front doorways, one each end of the recessed central hall front. Each has an eared stone architrave with floating cornice on carved consoles and both contain original double three-panel doors. Access by means of an attractive stone loggia on a stone platform between the wings. It is five bays with Ionic columns on pedestals supporting a moulded entablature. Centre bay breaks forward as a pedimented porch sheltering a flight of five stone steps. Balustrades have stone rails supported on turned timber balusters. Main walls have a flat brick band at first floor level and brick quoins on the corners. Roofs are hipped and contain a regular series of hip-roofed gables. Other sides continue in the same style but are not symmetrical. Also many of the windows on these sides are original flat-faced mullion-and-transom window containing rectangular panes of leaded glass. On the parlour (northern) end the tall stair window contains medallions of armorial stained glass. In the centre this side a stone doorway with eared architrave contains an original two-panel door. There is another similar in the rear wall up a flight of stone steps. This one has a flat hood on timber consoles below an overlight containing tiny panes of old leaded glass. Kitchen has taller original windows with two sets of transoms each. Southern side onto service courtyard includes a couple of C19 windows with diamond patterns of glazing bars (again in original openings). Early C20 pentice this side.

Interior: is wonderfully well-preserved. The house appears to have escaped any major modernisations since circa 1700. Furthermore the work is of extremely high quality. Many of the main rooms have sandstone ashlar fireplaces with moulded surrounds, canted corners and original iron firebacks. A couple on the first floor are lined with Delft tiles. Most of the main rooms are lined with small field oak panelling. Much of it is evidently reused from the old house. For instance the panelling of the first floor rear chamber of the parlour crosswing is carved with the date 1611 and has the initials of Richard Waller. The ground floor parlour at the front of the kitchen crosswing has fine Jacobean linen-fold panelling including some richly carved panels including heads and armorial bearings. The panelling in the chamber over the hall retains its C17 decorative scheme of paintwork in emulation of inlaid marquetry. Two good staircases. Both oak doglegs with closed strings, square newels with ball finials and moulded pendants, moulded handrails and large turned balusters. The balusters are different. Also the service stair is much smaller than the main staircase. Newman reckons the main staircase was rebuilt circa 1700 but its vase-like balusters are very similar to those in the balustrade of the loggia.

The kitchen is lower. It is built at ground level without a half basement beneath. Thus it is much taller than the other rooms. It is plainly finished. Its large fireplace is partly blocked but its oak lintel is exposed. The basement has original wine rack alcoves and stone dairy slabs.

There is a great deal of original joinery detail around the house. Doorways to the principal rooms have architraves whilst service rooms have solid chamfered frames. Attic rooms in the roof space. They are plastered and therefore the roof structure is inaccessible.

The main front parlour was refurbished to high standard circa 1700. It has a large marble bolection chimneypiece and is lined with bolection-moulded panelling in two heights. Fine ornamental plasterwork ceiling in featuring a large oval panel enriched with high relief foliage, fruits and flowers.

Besides its age and quality Groombridge Place is a most remarkable and very special survival. Newman describes it as "one of the loveliest and mellowest in the southern counties". It forms a group with its service buildings (q.v.) the moat and its bridges (q.v.) and its terraced garden walls (q.v.) but the group extends further to include the whole of Old Groombridge where most of the buildings are listed.

Listing NGR: TQ5334137619

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Groombridge Place at Wikipedia
• Groombridge Place official website
• Wikidata Q1547383

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

• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)