Listed Building: POPLARS INCLUDING GARDEN RAILINGS TO THE NORTH (1277637)

TQ 74 SW BRENCHLEY 6/34 Poplars including garden railings to the north GV II Former farmhouse in 2 occupations. Mid C17 with early C19 alterations and some C20 extension. Close-studded framed construction, the first floor and attic storey tile-hung with bands of scalloped tiles; peg-tile roof; brick stacks. Left (north) return wall rebuilt in brick. Plan: The house faces north. Double depth plan 2-rooms wide with a central entrance and 2 short crosswings each with an axial stack with a rear centre stair projection flush with the ends of the wings. The house has been extended at the south end, probably in the C19, when it was re-fenestrated. Exterior: 2 storeys and attic. Handsome, almost symmetrical 4-window front, jettied on the front and both returns, gabled to the front to left and right with a lower gable in the centre, the right hand gable slightly larger than the left. The first floor jetty has a moulded fascia and a moulded bracket at the front left corne,r a plain curved bracket at the front right. The attic storey is also jettied with similar brackets. Moulded bargeboards to the gables. Half-glazed C19 front door behind a recessed porch, the porch lintel with short arched braces. 2 ground floor early C19 canted bay windows with 16-pane sashes in the centre flanked by 4-pane outer lights. 4 first floor early Cl9 12-pane sashes, 3 similar first floor sashes, one to each gable. The close-studding on the ground floor includes an original blocked mullioned window alongside the porch to the left. At the right end a Cl9 outshut, slightly set back, is tile-hung with bands of ornamented tiles. Behind it another addition is brick and tile-hung. The rear elevation of the main block is less regular than the front with probably Cl9 small-pane casements, a Cl9 rear centre door with a flat porch hood and an outshut at the right (east) end. Railings to the garden of the house are included in the listing. They are Cl9 on a low brick plinth with a cast iron gate with fleur-de-lis finials to the verticals. Interior: West end of house only inspected. The jettied south return wall of the main block survives complete, now internal, with close-studding to sole plate level and a blocked mullioned window in the framing. The right hand (west) front room preserves exposed ceiling carpentry including a dragon beam, C20 chimneypiece, possibly concealing an earlier fireplace. The C19 addition includes a Victorian kitchen with an open fireplace with brick jambs and a timber lintel. East end of the house not fully inspected but a C19 stick baluster stair rises in entrance hall and C17 carpentry is likely to survive elsewhere. Roof: Not inspected but may be of interest. Listing NGR: TQ6724641021