Description

1099 VICARAGE LANE
The Old Vicarage
(formerly listed under Churchyard)

SU 8346 NE 5/61

26.4.50

II*

Probably C15 with C16, C17 and C18 and modern alterations. 3-bay timber-framed hall with arched braced roof towards the east end; a 2-bay storeyed end at the west (see R.C.H.M.) The house is now 2 storeys and attic, brick, timber-framed, gable ends hung with shaped and plain tiles and old tiled roof. In C13 and C14, the Vicar of Farnham received the high stipend of £11 a year in order that he might provide entertainment for the Pilgrims. This building originally consisted of a hall with an open timber roof, and a room for the Priest over the North porch, reached by a ladder from the hall. The timber of the roof which is of collar beam construction with arched-bracing is visible on the 1st and attic floors and is in a remarkable state of preservation, the oak retaining it yellowish-grey colour and all the joints being tight. It is believed that the 1st floor was put in in C16 and at least one partition on this floor. A doorway in this partition remains with moulded oak frame, and 4-centred arched head with splayed and moulded spandrels. The attic floor is of later date and partitions and windows have been added in successive centuries.

North elevation facing the Churchyard. The front of the building originally had a central projecting gabled porch, but at a later date walls have been built flush with the front of the porch and the resulting ground floor rooms have been roofed by sweeping the main floor down at a slightly flatter pitch. In this century the same thing has been done to the porch making a wide central gable with the original C14-15 bold carved and cusped bargeboard left in position. The whole gable is tile-hung. The ground floor is colour-washed brick. 1 3-light leaded casement window on 1st floor in centre of gable and 2 small 2-light casement windows at lower level in extended part of gable, and 1 gabled 3-light dormer window to left-hand. 1 2-light casement window with shutter to right-hand on ground floor, 1 4-light casement window to right-hand of centre and 5-panelled door in architrave frame to left-hand of centre under C19 lattice porch.

West elevation. 1 3-light leaded casement window in attic. 2 2-light similar windows on first floor. Yard extensions on ground floor.

South Elevation. 2 2-light hipped dormer windows in attic.
1st floor: 2 4-light mullioned and transomed window, and 2 sash windows, 1 tall slightly projecting chimney stack and 1 sash window to right-hand.
Ground floor: 1 3-light casement window to left-hand, 1 C18 half-glazed door with 2-paned side light on either side, chimney stack, and 1 similar half-glazed door and windows to right-hand.
Note: The 1st floor is tile-hung to right-hand of chimney stack.

Interior: There are remains of varying dates in the interiors, including one C18 room on the ground floor with dado and 2 arched niches. The modern alterations are in keeping with the character of the house. There is a walled kitchen garden to the west of the house with brick and ragstone walls and the garden to the south looks over water meadows to the River Way.

The listed buildings in Vicarage Lane, Churchyard, Church Passage, Upper Church Lane (North-West Side), Middle Church Lane, Lower Church Lane (West end), form a group.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17548847

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

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)