West wall to outbuilding of Granary Cottage, Place Farm, Bletchingley, Surrey

Summary

Wall of the former outer court of Bletchingley Place, a Tudor country house. Built in the C16, now forming the west wall of an outbuilding to Granary Cottage built in about 1947 to 1949 with further alterations in 2020.

Description

MATERIALS: the C16 wall is built of red brick laid in English bond and bonded with lime mortar.

PLAN: the west wall of an L-shaped single-storey building adjoined to the south of Granary Cottage.

DESCRIPTION: the west wall of the building incorporates a C16 red brick wall that formed part of the east range of the outer court of the Tudor country house known as Bletchingley Place. The wall is bonded by lime mortar and has a red brick plinth and a projecting tile course towards the upper part of the structure. It also incorporates some openings, now largely blocked, including possible putlog holes. At the north end of the wall are two openings: a large square-headed opening with a concrete lintel and a smaller square-headed opening.

EXCLUSIONS
Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the south and east walls, internal walls, frame and roof of the outbuilding are not of special architectural or historic interest. However, any works to these structures and/or features which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require Listed Building Consent (LBC) and this is a matter for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to determine.

History

The manor of Bletchingley is recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 when it was held by the de Clare family and centred on Bletchingley castle. By the early C13 Bletchingley was a borough and successful market centre. However, it declined in the early C14 after the death of the last de Clare heir. A manor house is recorded in the location of Place Farm in 1296. A new house, subsequently known as Bletchingley Place, was constructed in the early C16 by Edward Stafford, third Duke of Buckingham. In 1521 it was described as: 'properly and newly builded with many lodgings and offices. The hall, chapel, chambers, parlours, closets and oratories be newly ceiled with wainscot roofs, floors and walls to the intent they may be used at pleasure without hangings' (Maldon 1912). The Duke of Buckingham was convicted of treason and executed on 17 May 1521. The house was subsequently appropriated by King Henry VIII who gave it to Sir Nicolas Carew in 1523. However, upon his execution in 1539 for his alleged part in the Exeter Conspiracy it was again forfeited to the Crown. King Henry VIII then gave Bletchingley Place to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, following the annulment of their marriage in 1540. She resided at the house until 1547 when she was asked to surrender her title and interest in Bletchingley Place and move to Penshurst Place by King Edward VI’s Privy Council. This was in order to make way for Thomas Cawarden, Master of Revels. Cawarden carried out alterations to the house, including remodelling of the outer court, reroofing the gatehouse and installing a new tower.

Bletchingley Place is shown on the 1622 Pendell Estate Map with the buildings surrounding two rectangular courtyards: an inner and outer court. A gatehouse stood on the north side of the outer court with an archway leading into the inner court. It thus appears to have been a country house on an almost palatial scale. The house was largely demolished in the 1670s by Henry Mordaunt, second Earl of Peterborough, and the masonry used as building material. A survey of the manor in 1680 recorded that ‘only standing are the Gatehouse of the Capitall Messuage and several barns, stables and buildings lying on each hand [i.e. side] of the [outer] court leading to the said Gatehouse’ (Leveson-Gower 1871, 213). A 1761 map from the Clayton Land Survey shows several buildings on the east and west sides as well as the gatehouse on the north side of the former outer court. The gatehouse was extensively remodelled in the C18 (probably after 1761) as a farmhouse latterly known as Place Farm. The buildings on the east, west and north sides of the former outer court are shown on the 1840 tithe map, 1874 sales particulars, and 1896, 1912, 1935, 1966 and 1985 OS maps (1:2500) with some changes to the footprints over time, indicative of alterations.

In the 1980s and 1990s a series of excavations were carried out on the site by the Bourne Society. These revealed brick and stone foundations, robber trenches and postholes associated with the early C16 house. It indicated that a series of alterations were made to the house and that by the mid-C16 a garderobe tower had been added. Archaeological deposits provided evidence that the inner court was demolished in the 1670s, corroborating the documentary sources. On higher ground to the west of the Tudor house, a medieval high-status building was identified with associated C13 to C14 deposits; probably the original manor house (Jackson et all 1999, 234).

The red brick wall to the outbuilding of Granary Cottage was part of the C16 west wall of the east range of the outer court of Bletchingley Place. The east range is shown as a two-storey range with a gabled roof on the 1622 Pendell Estate Map. By 1761, parts of this range had evidently been dismantled because there are three separate buildings shown running along this side of the former outer court; a building at the south separated by a space from two further buildings at the north. The 1840 Bletchingley Tithe Map shows the southern building as a long rectangular range. The building to the immediate north had been demolished by this date and it is unclear if the building at the far north had been demolished or incorporated into Place Farm. By 1874, the southern building had been extended with an addition to the west, broadly forming a T-shaped plan. The 1894 and 1912 OS maps show an additional range orientated east-west that had been added at the north end of the building; this appears to be Granary Cottage. By 1935, an outbuilding had also been added extending to the east. Further alterations had occurred by 1966; the OS map shows Granary Cottage and then an L-shaped range forming an outbuilding attached to the south, which was built in about 1947 to 1949 (personal communication with owner, 23 Oct 2020). This map indicates that the southern range had been largely rebuilt at this time, including the demolition of the former western extension and likely replacement of the eastern extension. The outbuilding appears to have been used as a garage and stable. It was built with a pre-cast concrete frame, brick walls laid in Flemish bond, and a steel-trussed roof covered in asbestos. The footprint of these buildings remains the same in 2020. However, the outbuilding is currently being converted into a dwelling with a parking area/ garage, including replacement of the roof with a timber structure and red clay tile roof coverings.

The former gatehouse is Grade II*-listed and a C16 wall extending to the west of this building is Grade II-listed. Positioned in the former location of the west range of the outer court of Bletchingley Place is a Grade II-listed C17 barn incorporating C16 brickwork. The extant C16 structures therefore appear to form part of the north, east and west sides of the outer court of Bletchingley Place, and are shown as such in a plan of the extant and excavated remains of the house (see Jackson et al 1999, 235).

Reasons for Listing

The C16 wall of the former outer court of Bletchingley Place, now forming the west wall to an outbuilding of Granary Cottage, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a building inspection (October 2020), cartographic and archaeological evidence indicates that the wall to the outbuilding is the west wall of the east range of the outer court of Bletchingley Place, an important Tudor country house built on a palatial scale in the early C16;
* the wall survives well along its length and incorporates good quality handmade brickwork from the Tudor period and architectural features such as a red brick plinth, projecting tile course and blocked openings, including possible putlog holes.

Historic interest:

* Bletchingley Place was a grand country house built in the early C16 by the Duke of Buckingham, appropriated by King Henry VIII upon the Duke’s execution, and first given to Sir Nicholas Carew and then to Anne of Cleves in 1540, following the annulment of her marriage to the King. It passed to Thomas Cawarden, Master of Revels, in 1547 and a series of owners before being largely demolished in the 1670s;
* for the historic association of Bletchingley Place with Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of King Henry VIII who resided at the Tudor country house between 1540 and 1547.

Group value:

* with the C16 Grade II*-listed former gatehouse (remodelled as a house in the C18), Grade II-listed C17 barn and Grade II-listed C16 wall, all of which incorporate C16 fabric from the outer court of Bletchingley Place.

External Links

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