General Kent History Stuff > Domestic and Residential Buildings

The Homestead - Walderslade Manor

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TheHomestead:
The attached image is one of my favourites as it shows other houses and land features that are still there now.
I have also attached an image of the Homestead zoomed in and colourised to find some more details of the house about 100 years ago.
To the right of the Homestead is the Homestead cottage, which I only just realise now was probably a shop before it was a dwelling.   There are not enough windows for it to be a dwelling in this picture, but I do have census records that show people lived there. But at one point it must have been owned or run by the residents of the main house, as there is currently a bricked-up internal doorway in the main house, to what is now the neighbour's garden. 
The two attached extensions to the rear of the Homestead are now the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom.  In the picture there is a little chimney stack, this is currently the kitchen and the chimney is no longer there.  The extension to the right of the kitchen has been rebuilt since this image, but I suspect it was an outside toilet then, with only a small gap between the main building and the toilet building.  Based on the shadow, I suspect this little extension overlapped with the Homestead cottage/shop and was used by both buildings.
Another interesting point in the main image is the hill opposite the Homestead, known as Brakes Hill or Nab Hill.  In the image, it looks like there were steps the full length of the hill.  Anyone local will know that this path is still there, but it does not have any steps apart from a few at the bottom for the steepest bit near the road.

CAT:
Many thanks for you comments TheHomestead and glad mine are of some use. Its always difficult to make predictions based on map evidence and a selection of period pics as these don't necessarily show as much detail as the actual building itself.


I agree that the large building to the west could have been a barn, as another look at the 1st Ed. map of the OS (1871) shows it unfilled suggesting it had a separate use to the farmhouse and the surrounding buildings. Also its plan suggests it possessed a midstrey (centrally projecting covered porch) typical of Kent barns and with an opening between two other rear structures in its rear wall. This would have allowed a laden wagon to entre from the main road where a central threshing floor would allow the crop to be separated and packaged ready for storage in one, or both ends of the barn or granary. The unladen wagon could then pass into the adjoining farmyard. Note to all: Always look for the differing sizes of doorways either side of a barn midstrey to see which side the full and empty cart would entre and exit. (full cart = large doors, empty cart = smaller doors)[size=78%]. [/size]


If you have evidence of a second door in the front wall of the property, there is every possibility the dwelling had been subdivided as happened with numerous larger farmhouses in the Kent countryside. To collaborate this look for evidence of an inserted 'second' staircase, or doubling up of internal feature where a household would only need one (site of a former bread oven, or water boiling copper). This subdivision may have been why a new lean-to was added to the western end of the property.


With regards to the original colour of the property, there is a strong possibility that when the faux timber frame was installed the timbers were painted black and the framed panels white. This would follow the tradition of the nineteenth century when the timbers of old buildings were painted in tar pitch as an act of preserving the decomposing timbers. The panels between were subsequently painted with lime based whitewash, this being very cheap and an effective method of weatherproofing a building as well as the lime acting as an insect repellent. There could also be a period closer to the modern day when colour would have been added to the exterior of a building, as well as during the medieval period when numerous buildings were painted externally in some very gaudy colours.


As for the dip in the roof, only an internal inspection could possibly say why this has occurred, thought the use of the wall ties (the two X shapes being attached to the ends to a pair of rods passing through the width of the building to stop the walls from splaying), though the fact they are present would suggest historic movement in the roof has pushed the walls out slightly requiring the installation of the wall ties. There should be other tie plates on the opposite ends on the rear wall also.


All in all a very interesting building. Feel free to ask more and I shall endeavour to answer.

TheHomestead:


Hi, I would like to respond to this great post from CAT before I add another picture.


--- Quote from: CAT on August 15, 2022, 02:41:04 PM ---
Looking at early maps of the Ordnance Survey, it would appear this house, known as 'The Homestead' now, originally formed part of a small farm group with a larger dwelling to the southwest.
--- End quote ---
 

Based on the maps I have seen and discussions with local historians, we agree that the larger structure was likely to be a barn or cart-shed as it was directly adjacent to Princes Avenue (then Victoria Road).




--- Quote from: CAT on August 15, 2022, 02:41:04 PM --- This suggests the area of Walderslade was largely named after this farm.
--- End quote ---


This is correct, Walderslade Farm covered a very large area, but was broken up in the early 1900s and the area became known as Walderslade, with Walderslade village (with post-office and Chruch) nearby.




--- Quote from: CAT on August 15, 2022, 02:41:04 PM --- This appears to have been a double fronted building of the seventeenth century (central front door with rooms either side of a cross passage with a possible central stairway leading to the upper rooms, though a stair in a projecting rear structure is also possible.
--- End quote ---


There is a blocked-up doorway on the right too, maybe suggesting it was two homes at one point.



The new snowy image I have attached below I have been told is from 1947.  This picture is a photo of a photo, I would love to have a copy of the original.  Some points to note, the colour of the building is not white, in comparison to the colour of the snow. It makes me wonder what colour it was back then. The Homestead Cottage is single story, and appears to have an extension to the left which you can actually see in one of the postcard images I shared.  The front door has a porch/canopy, which can also be seen in the postcard image.  However, whereas the postcard image (from c.1928) has thick black fake timber frame paint, this image from 1947 does not.  The fake frame must have been painted over within the 20 years.

The second image from a similar period, (fake frame paint just about visible, and a porch/canopy), was shared by someone who lived in the house; this is them in the image.  In this image you can see the dip in the roof apex to the left and the two X-shaped wall anchor points above the left lower window.  All of which are still evident today.

This is all for now, I am running out of images.

Smiffy:
There are some more photos of this area in the Walderslade Village thread.

CAT:
Looking at early maps of the Ordnance Survey, it would appear this house, known as 'The Homestead' now, originally formed part of a small farm group with a larger dwelling to the southwest. There were several lesser structures linking the two dwellings, probably agricultural buildings associated with the farm, all of which was titled 'Walderslade'. This suggests the area of Walderslade was largely named after this farm. looking at later maps of the OS the larger dwelling disappears between 1897 and 1907 leaving the present Homestead dwelling standing. This appears to have been a double fronted building of the seventeenth century (central front door with rooms either side of a cross passage with a possible central stairway leading to the upper rooms, though a stair in a projecting rear structure is also possible. Originally a pair of chimney breasts either end of the main building would provide a fireplace in both the downstairs rooms and to those above). However, prior to 1897 a new property was constructed on the north-eastern end of the earlier dwelling, which from the earlier pics appears to have been two storey. This appears to have been reduced to a single storey and subsequently removed altogether as can be seen in one of the postcard pics. On the 4th Ed. map of the OS (1929) this building appears to have been separated in title from the main dwelling with a boundary separating not only the properties, but also the gardens. This boundary forms the present line between the dwelling and the rear gardens to housing facing Darget's Road (Nos. 2, 2a, 2b, 2c). At the southwest end of The Homestead, it appears a single storey lean-to roofed structure is added to the earlier house sometime in the late nineteenth century with its own chimney extending up the outside face of the main house's end chimney stack. It is possible this was a small utility type room with a wash-house copper for cleaning cloths as well as a bread oven, either/both of which would require a chimney.   

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