The Dutch Gables of Kent: Update to KAS Newsletter issues 93 & 94, 2012

By Gordon Taylor

As has been said before, a study is out of date as soon as it appears in print. My research is no different, but

I have good news at least. It was a general report, and individual properties did not generally get a mention. Some were in a parlous state, and I feared for their future, but fortunately, in some cases at least, a shining knight has come to their rescue.

Eythorne, TR 299 491 Malmains Farm (Malmain is Norman – owner). Late fifteenth-century timber-framed house with gables added in seventeenth-century

in red/brown brick in English bond, rest rendered and c.1800 extension. The barn is a former tithe barn. Side and rear pediments of the house were in disrepair on my 2011 visit. The owner wanted to repair the gables, and both gables were re-built 2016/7 during which work the roof timbers were found to need repair, so the roof was renewed as well as the gables, securing the house’s future (Figs 1 & 2).

Tilmanstone TR 302519 North Court (separated from South Court 1564). Sixteenth-century timber-framed house and early seventeenth-century in brick. South gable has a chimney in half segmental pediment, straight one side ogee another side (matched only by Adisham Court, Kent and the Dun Cow pub in Swainsthorpe, Norfolk). Orange brown brick in English bond. West gable: segmental pediment with

concave and two convex curves in English bond. Front Flemish bond. The porch has triangular pediment with a convex curve. Five S-shaped wall anchors. Renovated 2017/8 including removing all twentieth- century accretions and installing anti-flooding measures at the rear (grounds slope towards the house). The owner has also re-roofed the timber-framed barn employing thatchers from the West Country for the top half and wood shingles below to match the original. Another treasure saved (Figs 3 & 4).

60, High Street, Ash, Near Sandwich. This building, originally the Lion Hotel as listed by the late Arthur Percival and later an Indian Restaurant “Jagaan”, was virtually destroyed by fire early in 2009. Being Listed Grade II, I was assured by Dover District Council that it would be reinstated, and thankfully it was in 2014. Of rendered brickwork, it has a ‘Thanet’ pediment with two convex curves under at the east end only (Figs 5 & 6).

Stodmarsh Court, Stodmarsh. Grade II listed late sixteenth-century core (early seventeenth-century – Pevsner) with south front rebuilt nineteenth- century in ‘Jacobean style’ with three gables all with round pediment, the two wings have concave and convex curves under. East gable is original with

round pediment with two convex curves under, three reverse S wall anchors, and diagonal brickwork in a lozenge-shaped panel – unique. Derelict when I visited it in 2008 but thankfully now fully restored when on the internet in 2018 is for sale with Canterbury estate agent Strutt & Parker (Figs 7 & 8). Nearby Higham Hall Farm circa 1700 has had a new porch added c.2015 which matches the original.

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Fig 1: Malmains Farm rear gable prior to repairs

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Fig 2: Malmains rear gable with new roof and removal of modern addition Opposite page, bottom

Fig 3: North Court, south gable circa 2011

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Fig 4: North Court south gable showing improvements

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Fig 5: 60 The Street, Ash, near Sandwich

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Fig 6: 60 The Street risen from the ashes

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Fig 7: Stodmarsh Court Farm east wing 2008

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Fig 8: Stodmarsh Court from side (close up) 2018