TQ 53 NW SPELDHURST BROOM LANE 7/460 Broom Farmhouse II Former farmhouse. Early C17 or earlier, C19 and C20 additions. Framed construction, the ground floor underbuilt in Flemish bond brick, the first floor tile-hung; peg-tile roof; brick stacks. Plan: The house faces east. 3-room lobby entrance plan, the 2 right hand (north) rooms heated from back-to-back fireplaces in an axial stack, unheated service room to the left (west). The house has been extended by 2 late C19/early C20 rear wings at right angles and a single storey wing adjoining at the right.(north) end. It may be a C17 remodelling of an earlier house. Exterior: 2 storeys. Roof of the main block hipped at the left end, half- hipped and gabletted at the right end. Axial stack to right of centre with staggered triple shafts of handmade brick with corbelled brick cornices and vertical ribs. Probably C19 left end stack with a tall shaft and corbelled cornice. Asymmetrical 4-window front with a C20 front door to the lobby entrance with a flat porch hood. Various 2-, 3- and 4-light casement windows mostly glazed with square leaded panes: the 2 first floor left hand windows are circa early C17 with chamfered mullions. First floor window right and the ground floor window left of the porch are probably C18. The other windows are C20. The single storey addition at the right end is 3 bays with small-pane sash windows. The rear elevation of the early range is largely obscured by rear additions, one of the rear wings has a 2-span roof, the rear left wing has a canted bay. Interior: The north end has an exposed ceiling beam in the long axis with scroll stops and an open fireplace with stone jambs. A crossbeam close to the fireplace has redundant mortises: it may be re-used or could predate the stack, suggesting a late medieval core to the house. The 2 southern rooms were not available for inspection at time of survey (1989) but preserve exposed ceiling carpentry. The partition between them has been removed. The wall framing survives on the rear wall with jowled wall posts. Roof: Tie beam, collar and clasped purlin design of slender scantling, probably mid/late C17 in date. An attracctive traditional house of the region. Listing NGR: TQ5457838549