Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Country House - 1535 - remodelled C1870. Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1535 to 1901

Monument Types

• MANOR HOUSE (Medieval to Modern - 1535 AD to 2050 AD)
• DRAIN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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[TQ 66585170] Roydon Hall [NAT] (1) A small holding called Fortune is mentioned in 1500 as held of Richard Fane. Thomas Roydon married into the Whetenhall family of Hextal c.1509 and soon afterwards acquired the manor or tenement of fortune. On a spandril of the arch of the porch at Roydon Hall is Thomas Roydon's motto and the date 1535. This is accepted as the date when the house was built. The house is essentially a manor-house and was erected as the seat of a lord of several small manors lying around it. Roydon Hall is a typical Tudor courtyard house of brick upon a Kentish Ragstone foundation. An arched gateway is flanked by an angular wall of great thickness terminating in octangonal towers from which the wall turns to meet the house. Much of the house was rebuiltin the latter half of the 17th c. and, in general, it is possible to trace these later additions by the differences in the size and bondingof the brickwork. The north and east sides were rebuilt in 1869. Thewest side retains most of the original features. (2) Mainly similar information. (3) Architectural description by Authority 2 correct. Above terraced gardens on the north east side are two ornamental brick towers joined by a high brick wall. (TQ 65 SE 35) These features are contemporary with the oldest parts of the hall. See GPs AO/58/277/2 and 3. (4) Checked and correct. (5) Roydon Hall. Grade II*. Country House. Built, according to inscription over entrance doorway, in 1535. Completely sashed c.1680.Heavily remodelled, especially east and south fronts c. 1870. Wall 50 yards to the east of Roydon Hall. Probably 1535. Stables at Roydon Hall. Later C19. Main Gates and flanking walls to Roydon hall. Mid C19. North Lodge to Roydon Hall. Mid C19. [for full description see list] (6)

During an archaeological evaluation at Roydon Hall in 2009, the foundations of a possibly outbuilding, or associated building was discovered in Trench 1.The location of the known brick drainage tunnel was also confirmed (9).

Description from record TQ 65 SE 263:
The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 65 SE EAST PECKHAM ROYDON HALL ROAD (east side)
2/58 Roydon Hall
1.8.52
- II*
Country House.Built, according to inscription over entrance doorway, in 1535. Completely sashed c.1680. Heavily remodelled, especially east and south fronts c.1870 by Habershon. Red brick with some stone dressings, slate roofs. North (entrance) front: 2 storeys with crow-stepped gables to right, added in C19 remodelling. 2 large chimney-breasts to right with stove-topped brick stacks. Irregular fenestration of C19 casements in transom and mullion surrounds. Semi-basement block with area to right. 2½ storey porch slightly off-centre to left. Stone on ground floor with round-headed arch flanked by Tuscan half- columns on high basts carrying an entablature. Dateable to c.1600 by strapwork decoration. Transom and mullion windows on both floors above. Entrance range in front of north facade forming small square court. Low, three-dimensional four-centred arch in centre, framed each side by a triangular and polygonal projection, where rooms had once been, with octagonal turrets at each, joined to the house by two eight foot high walls. East front: Almost wholly Victorian. 2 Victorian dormers. 2 storeys. Chimney breast to left with inset ground floor window and central 2-storey canted bay. South front: 2 storeys, irregu- lar fenestration of c.1870 multi-light transom and mullion windows. 3 gables to left, 2-storey canted bay to right. Victorian porch offset to right of centre, with neo-Perpendicular pointed arch window with tracery over. West front: Retains original character to greater extent. Brick laid in English bond.. 2 storeys, rising to 3 with 3 c.1870 crow-stepped gables. String- course below gables on moulded brick corbel - table of trefoil arches. 2 sheer chimney breasts, cutting up through gables, with original stove-topped stacks. Interior: South East Room. Jacobean panelling. South Room: Chapel screen, 6 lights and central door (not original). Heavily moulded door surround. North east room. Walnut panelling, c.1680. Blue Room: Lavish C19 rococo revi- val decoration, including cornice and ceiling, pier-glasses, overdoor, bressum- mer to bay window and chimney-piece. Original central courtyard roofed and top-lit to form main staircase, c.1870. Most of the rooms have c.1870 neo- Jacobean plaster ceilings. See Country Life, LXXXVII, 198. Listing NGR: TQ6658151711 ((1)

<1> OS 6" 1907-38 (OS Card Reference). SKE48320.

<2> A Manor through Four Centuries 1938 41-7 171-9 (A R Cook) (OS Card Reference). SKE32826.

<3> Country Life 87 No 2249 Feb 1940 198 photos (A Oswald) (OS Card Reference). SKE39457.

<4> F1 ASP 06-JAN-59 (OS Card Reference). SKE41960.

<5> F2 CFW 13-FEB-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE43232.

<6> DOE (HHR) Dist of Tonbridge and Malling Kent April 1985 30-31 (OS Card Reference). SKE40410.

<7> Field report for monument TQ 65 SE 9 - January, 1959 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3415.

<8> Field report for monument TQ 65 SE 9 - February, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3416.

<9> Pre-Construct Arcaheology, 2007, Roydon Hall, East Peckham Kent: Results of an Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SKE53846.

<9> AOC Archaeology Group, 2010, Roydon Hall, East Peckham Kent: Results of an Archaeological Evaluation and Geophysical Survey (Unpublished document). SKE16699.

<10> W. Van Sickle, 2004, Roydon Hall, East Peckham, Kent: documented historical account (Unpublished document). SKE51814.

<11> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Sources and further reading