Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1700 to 1700

A loose courtyard plan farmstead with buildings to three sides of the yard.

Monument Types

• SITE (Post Medieval - 1700 AD to 1700 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
COOLING CP TQ 77 NE 2/26 21.11.66 Cooling Court GV II
Farmhouse. Dated 1700. Red brick with plain tiled roof. 2 parallel ranges. 2 storeys; 5 window front, irregularised by the blocking of some, various glazing bar sashes in open boxes. Central panelled door. Interior: Panelled Great Chamber with refurnishing of early C19. Early C19 staircase and doorways.
Listing NGR: TQ7636776264 (1)

Type: Loose courtyard with working agricultural buildings on three sides and with additional detached elements to the main plan
Farmhouse: Farmhouse detached in central position
Position: Isolated position
Survivial: Altered - partial loss of original form (less than 50%)
(1-2)

This feature is recorded in the English Heritage Historic Area Assessment for Colling Parish. The report states generally regarding the establishment of the three estates in this area: ""Several references to Culings or Culinge occur in the 9th and 10th centuries, relating to the granting of land and in 1066 the lordship was held by Earl Leafwyne, the brother of King Harald. Up to this point Cooling formed part of the Great Manor of Hoo (within the Lathe of Aylesford) but after the conquest it became a manor in its own right. Administratively it lay within the Hundred of Shamel, while its eastern neighbour, High Halstow, was part of the Hundred of Hoo. Ownership of the manor stayed mainly with the crown until obtained by the de Cobham family in 1241. It then descended through various branches of the de Cobham and Brooke family until 1643 when the mannor at Cooling (sometimes spelt Cowling) was divided among the three daughters of William Brooke. This created three estates, which Edward Hasted identified as Cowling Castle, New Barn, and Cowling Lodge…The estate of New Barn probably refers to Cooling Court, where Eliza Clay built a medieval farmhouse in 1700. This farmstead was situated midway between the castle and a medieval park at the southern edge of the parish."

"There is also a scattering of dispersed farmsteads [in the area]. The best preserved is Cooling Court, which has a handsome brick farmhouse (grade II), built according to the plaque, in 1700 by Eliza Clay. The main frontage has red and blue brick laid in a chequerboard pattern and is on the west side of the building leaving the rear elevation facing the road."(3)

<1> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<1> Forum Heritage Services, 2012, Kent Farmsteads & Landscape Project (Unpublished document). SKE18075.

<2> English Heritage, 2009, Historic Farmsteads: A Manual for Mapping (Unpublished document). SKE18076.

<3> historic england, 2014, Hoo Peninsula Outline Historic Area Assessment: Cooling Parish. Research Report 51-2014. (Bibliographic reference). SKE31592.

Sources and further reading