Stoneacre, Kent facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Stoneacre |
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The courtyard
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| Location | Otham, Kent, England |
| OS grid reference | TQ7998053494 |
| Elevation | 75 metres (246 ft) |
| Built | Late 15th century |
| Built for | John Ellys |
| Restored | 1920s |
| Restored by | Aymer Vallance |
| Governing body | The National Trust |
| Official name: Stoneacre and Path Between Front Door and Road | |
| Type | Grade II* |
| Designated | 25-Jul-1952 |
| Reference no. | 1250995 |
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Stoneacre is a special old house managed by the National Trust. It is located in Otham, a village near Maidstone in Kent, southern England. This property is a "half-timbered" house, meaning it's built with a wooden frame and the spaces are filled with other materials. It was once the home of a wealthy farmer, called a yeoman, and dates back to the 1400s.
Stoneacre also includes a lovely small garden, an orchard (a place with fruit trees), and green meadows. The house is officially recognized as a Grade II* listed building. This means it is a very important historic building that needs to be protected.
Contents
The History of Stoneacre
How Stoneacre Got Its Name
The land where Stoneacre stands has a type of rock called Kentish ragstone. It is believed that the house got its name from this stone.
Early Owners and Building the House
An old book called History of Kent mentions that a person named John Ellys lived here during the time of King Edward II. About a hundred years later, another John Ellis, who was quite rich, lived at Stoneacre. His son, also named John Ellys, built the main house in the 1480s. This was a "hall house," which meant it had a large open room in the center.
Changes and Challenges Over Time
The house was built on a steep slope, and the ground was not very stable. Because of this, the north side of the house started to have problems in the mid-1500s. The lower parts and cellars had to be rebuilt using strong stone and supports called buttresses. You can still see these today.
Around the same time, large open hall houses were becoming less popular. So, the owners decided to add an upper floor into the main hall. The Ellys family owned Stoneacre until 1725. After that, they sold it, and other people rented and lived in the house.
Restoration by Aymer Vallance
In 1920, a man named Aymer Vallance bought the old house. He was 58 years old and later married Lucy Ada Hennell in 1921. Aymer had a dream to restore Stoneacre to look like a traditional Tudor yeoman's home.
To bring back the original tall hall, he removed the upper floor that had been added. This meant two bedrooms were lost. To make up for this, he added a new section to the south side of the house, which included a library. He also removed an old, small kitchen at the back.
Aymer even used parts from another old farmhouse, North Bore Place, which was going to be torn down. He used these old pieces to build a new two-story wing on the west side. This new part had a servants' hall and kitchen downstairs, with two bedrooms for maids upstairs. In 1928, Aymer Vallance gave Stoneacre to the National Trust, so it could be preserved for everyone to enjoy. From 2022, the site was open to visitors monthly until October.
Exploring Stoneacre
Outside the House
The front of Stoneacre faces east. The north end of the house has a stone lower floor with a timber (wood) frame above it. The middle part has the main front door. To the left of the door is a very large window for the main hall, reaching from the ground to the roof. This section is made of timber with plaster filling the gaps. Since it's the hall, it doesn't have an upper floor.
At the end of the original hall, there's a two-story section that sticks out. Beyond that, there's a brick lower room with a timber-framed upper floor. A window with 12 panes of glass was moved to this new part. It used to light a bedroom on the 16th-century upper floor.
On the west side of the house, where the new south extension meets the original hall, there is a cool eight-sided tower for the stairs. As you move north, you see the original two-story parts and the tall hall with its rebuilt west window. Some of the original building is hidden by the 20th-century north wing.
The stair tower and the west front of the north wing were brought from North Bore Place. This means they are original pieces from the 1500s, even though they are now part of a 20th-century structure. Some dates on the arches are 1547 and 1629.
Inside the House
The main entrance door was restored by Aymer Vallance, but it is the original door. When you step inside, you enter a "screens passage." The wooden frame of this screen is original, but the panels were replaced by Vallance because the old ones had rotted.
The main hall is very impressive because of its high roof. The roof is held up by a huge wooden beam called a tie-beam, which supports a central post made of four columns. When the hall was first divided, the original fireplace in the middle of the room was replaced by a brick chimney. During Vallance's restoration, this chimney was replaced again with a 15th-century fireplace from an old pub in Sittingbourne. The chimney above it is from the 20th century.
The drawing room, also called the parlor, was part of the original house. It was likely used as a private room, separate from the main hall. The fireplace in this room came from North Bore Place. The stained glass windows are copies, but the curtains are original from the 1880s and are quite rare!
Above the drawing room is a "solar," which was a private upper room. It has a roof similar to the hall's, but smaller. The bay window (oriel window) was added during the restoration, but it was designed to look like the original. Next to this window are two original windows with special slots for vertical shutters.
See also
- Other similar hall houses in Otham:
- Otham Manor
- Synyards
