TILMANSTONE WALDERSHARE TR 24 NE 6/125 Waldershare Park (formerly listed under 13.10.52 Parish of Sutton) GV I Country House, now flats. 1705-1712 for Sir Henry Furnese and attributed to William Talman. Entrance porch added 1890, most of the interior and parts of exterior restored after a fire in 1915 by Sir Reginald Blomfield. Double pile plan with flanking and projecting wings. Red brick, in 2 colours, with dressed stone details and plain tiled roof. Garden front (original entrance front): stylistically dependant on the park front of Hampton Court. Main block of 9 bays on plinth with flanking pilaster strip quoins and moulded cornice to attic storey also with pilaster strips, with cornice parapet crowned with stone urn finials. Hipped roof with central projecting hip, 5 segmental dormers, and stacks ranged left to right. Centre piece of 5 bays projecting with 6 Corinthian pilasters and full entablature recessed at corners. Tall ground floor windows with moulded architraves, triple keyed, and smaller mezzanine windows, all with glazing bar sashes. Flanking glazing bar sashes with triple keyed architraves, attic windows just with architraves. Central double glazed doors with large rectangular fanlights in moulded lugged surround with shell top and bracketed cornice, festooned ox-eye over door. Two storey and attic flanking wings, with plinth, plat band and moulded eaves cornice to hipped roof with arcaded stacks, that to right by Blomfield and with architectural embellishments. Three glazing bar sashes on first floor, 2 on ground floor with central french doors in each wing. Single storey end wings, projecting with plinth, quoins and parapet with sphynx finials, 2 glazing bar sashes and sunk panels over, The moat which survives around the right end wing originally surrounded the entire building. Entrance front: much plainer, but built up from single storey projecting wings to three bay 2 storey and attic flanks (that to left with raised roof line) to 3 storey and attic centre block of 9 bays, the centre three projecting. Plinth, plat band, cornice and quoins to projecting wings and pilaster quoins to centre 3 bays rusticated on ground floor, with attic cornice to hipped roof with 7 dormers on main roof, and 2 on each lower hipped flank. Only the glazing bar sashes in the centre projection have stone architraves, keyed on ground and first floors. Other details in rubbed brick. Projecting porch with double panelled doors in Doric doorcase and triglyph frieze and cornice with sphynx finials. Interior: mostly destroyed 1913 and rebuilt by Blomfield, who also raised the roof height. Much lost since conversion to flats. Some of the moulded stone fireplaces are said to survive from the C18 house, especially in the original entrance hall (on garden front). Main staircase C20, an open well plan with cast iron rails. Upper floor with 2 elliptical top lit stairs and oval wells in floor to light lower corridor, with ramped and moulded handrails and turned baluster stairs. Plaster friezes and cornices survive in some rooms, interrupted by later partitions. The most impressive survival from the C18 house are the fine cellars, vaulted and arcaded with 2 large chambers with central piers. Seat of the Lords North, Earls of Guilford, 1766 to mid C20. (See B.O.E. Kent II 1983, pp.487-8; see also J. Harris, William Talman, Maverick Architect, 1981, pp 33-40 and p. 48 n.90; Hasted, X, pp 54-7; Iggulden, XX, pp. 79-81). The house is partly in Coldred parish and is cross-referenced under that parish. Listing NGR: TR2919548259