Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1700 to 1899

Summary from record TQ 64 NW 24 :

Upper Postern Farmhouse: listed building

Monument Types

• FARMHOUSE (FARMHOUSE, Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• SITE (Post Medieval - 1700 AD to 1899 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 64 NW CAPEL POSTERN LANE, TUDELEY
1/276 Upper Postern Farmhouse
20.10.54 II*
Farmhouse. Early C18, some C19 modernisation. Half basement is Flemish bond red brick with burnt headers, timber-framed above and tile hung; brick stacks and chimneyshafts; peg-tile roof.
Plan: The farmhouse faces north. It has a 2-room plan with central entrance hall containing a dogleg stair. Both rooms have rear lateral stacks. Integral outshots give the half basement and ground floor levels a 4-room plan. Original kitchen in the half basement front left (east). Service doorway in left end to kitchen with original porch. Ground floor rear rooms originally under sloping outshot roof but the right rear room there improved in C19 with its own crossroof.
2 storeys with half basement below and attics in the roofspace and integral service outshots to rear.
Exterior: Tall house with symmetrical 3-window front of C19 and C20 casements with glazing bars. Central front doorway up a flight of 6 stone steps. It has its original bead-moulded doorframe, fielded 6-panel door and flat hood. Side lights have replacement glazing bars. Moulded timber eaves cornice and the tall and steeply pitched roof is half-hipped to left and gable-ended to right and contains 3 front dormer windows with hipped roofs. The right (west) end wall contains a C20 bay window to the ground floor front room. The left end wall has a doorway into the kitchen (original bead-moulded frame and fielded 3-panel door) behind an original brick porch. This contains a bench round 2 sides, presumably where farm workers could sit and eat without coming into the house. To rear the main roof is carried down over the outshots and here are original flat-faced mullion windows and the back door contains an old, if not original, plank door. First floor west outshot room was built up in the C19 with its own hipped roof and contains a rear-facing C19 4-pane sash. Alongside, to right of, the back door there is a curious relieving arch just above ground level. It is believed to be part of a well housing. The brickwork of the left (east) end wall has some interesting graffiti; a series of C18 initials with C18 dates, the earliest is GW 1727.
Interior: Well-preserved with a great deal of original carpentry and joinery details. Most of the rooms, including the principal ground floor rooms have chamfered axial beams with scroll stops. The original joinery includes a good dogleg stair (square newel posts, closed string, moulded flat handrail and turned, vase-shaped balusters), fielded 2-panel doors, cupboards and the like.
Upper Postern is an attractive and well-preserved example of polite architecture at yeoman farmer level.
Listing NGR: TQ6153746065

Description from record TQ 64 NW 24 :
(TQ 6158 4607) Upper Postern (NAT). (1) Farmhouse. early C18, some C19 modernisations. Grade II*. (2)

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

<1> OS 1:10000 1974 (OS Card Reference). SKE48159.

<2> DOE (HHR) District of Tunbridge Wells, Kent (Bidborough et al) 24th Aug 1990 266 (OS Card Reference). SKE40525.

Sources and further reading