Description

TQ 65 SW MEREWORTH MEREWORTH ROAD
TQ 65 SE (north side)

1/36 & 2/36 Yotes Court

-

- I

Country house. Built circa 1656-58 for James Master. Red brick with painted plaster quoins
and dressings. Hipped plain tiled roof. Central 5-bay block with l-bay wings
giving the house a stretched 'H' shape. Wide plinth of coursed stone blocks
topped by rubbed brick course. Basement windows in plinth of centre recess.
Flat band and moulded cornice with covered soffit. 7 dormers with some sli-
ding casements. Tall brick chimney stacks, 2 bearing dates 1656 and 1658,
with sunk arched panels. Raised flat window surrounds with ears, sills and
central keystones. Windows on ground-floor of recess were dropped during
alterations in the C18. Central window on 1st floor with pediment on
brackets. This, and the central projecting corinthian half-columned porch
with panelled double-doors, fan-light and cast-iron balcony over, are late
C18 additions. Rear elevation with 3 gables in central recess and rear fene-
stration showing some survival of the original cross windows. East elevation
of 3 storeys and 6 bays. Irregular fenestration due to unresolved problem
of lighting the subsidiary staircase, with 3 windows on 3 levels in 3rd bay
from right. Basement door in 3rd bay from left. Panelled, with top pane
cut away and glazed. Deep flat hood on brackets. Interior: Original square
open-well staircase with stout Ionesian baluster and heavy rail. Pair of
figures in putative niches on east and west walls of stair and ceiling
painting of open sky with flying putti with garlands. Surrounded by balu-
strade, all c.1740 and attributed to Francis Hayman. Front Hall: Adamesque
plaster ceiling and chimney-piece, c.1765. Front Bedroom: Adamesque plaster
ceiling and chimney-piece, c.1765. Dining Room: C17 oak panelling. Victoria
Room: Mid C18 chimney-piece. South-East Bedroom: Rococo papier mache ceiling,
c.1740. See Archaeologia Cantiana, XV-XVIII, 1883-1889, for the transcription
by Mrs Dalison of the Account Books of James Masters of the years 1646-76.
Country Life, June 18th and 25th, 1964, CXXXV, 1580, 1648. Yotes Court is
listed Grade I as a very early example of the type of country house that be-
came dominant after the Restoration. As a building of importance and quality
of the Commonwealth period it has great rarity value.

Listing NGR: TQ6501553307

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17530320

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]