Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1400 to 1760

A regular L-plan farmstead.

Monument Types

• SITE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1400 AD to 1760 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
ST MARY'S HOO CP RATCLIFFE HIGHWAY TQ 77 NE 2/79 South side Fenn Street Farm House - II
Farmhouse. C15 and C16, refaced to south in 1760. Timber-framed and clad in red brick to south. Hipped plain tiled roof with lean-to on east. Two large chimney stacks. 2 storeys; irregular fen- estration. Date-stone marked 1760 on south front.
Listing NGR: TQ8113176584 (1)

Fenn Street is mentioned in the Historic Area Assessment of High Halstow Parish as part of the English Heritage wider study of the Hoo Peninsula. The report states that Fenn Street ribbon development originated from the cluster of farmsteads known as Fenn Street. (2)

Type: Regular courtyard L-plan with detached house and other detached elements
Farmhouse: Farmhouse detached in central position
Position: Loose farmstead cluster
Survivial: Altered - partial loss of original form (less than 50%)
Notes: Probably barn with later shelter shed
(1-2)

This feature is recorded in the English Heritage Historic Area Assessment for St Mary Hoo Parish. The report states: "By the 1840s one individual William Fuller owned St Mary's Hall, Lowland Farm, Moat Farm, Hoppers Farm and Ross Farm. This estate was subsequently acquired by Ecclesiastical Commissioners (latterly the Church Commissioners). The farms were often managed by bailiffs and it was as a tenant that Henry Pye arrived at St Mary's Hall in 1851. He subsequently went on to lease Swigshole Farm, Ross Farm, Hoppers Farm and Fenn Street Farm (in St Mary Hoo parish) as well as Turkey Hall Farm and New Barn Farm (in Stoke Parish)…Several farmsteads have passed out of agricultural use, including Fenn Street Farm…Fenn Farm on the south side of the road retains its farmhouse (listed grade II), a two-storey building with painted brick and a timber-clad frame that dates from the 15th and 16th centuries. A later phase is commemorated with a 1760 date stone. Its 19th century timber outbuildings and barn also survive, the latter converted to residential use. A small brick and thatch outbuilding in the grounds of a mid 20th century house Fenn Cottage, may be a remnant of a row of tiny farmworkers cottages that were associated with Fenn Farm." (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: St Mary Hoo Parish. Research Report 2014-52 (Bibliographic reference). SKE31593.

Sources and further reading