Listed Building record TQ 73 NE 303 - HARTLEY HOUSE/Cranbrook Union Workhouse

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
CRANBROOK HARTLEY ROAD TQ 73 NE (north side) 3/133 - Hartley House - II
Former workhouse now old people's home. Circa 1840 by Whichcord & Walker. Tonbridge stone ashlar. Slate hipped roofs with gable parapets and gabled crosswing projecting in centre of taller gable parapetted centre block. Tall brick stacks on gablets. 2 storeys. 9 window front, regular with 3 bay wings flanking 3 bay central block. Shallow tripartite sashes with keyed heads in bays, large tripartite sashes with keyed heads in central block with large cen- tral pointed arch, in chamfered surround. Two-thirds glazed doors blocking opening.
Listing NGR: TQ7611335101

Prior to the formation of Cranbrook Union Workhouse in 1834 the poor from Benenden, Frittenden, Goudhurst, Hawkhurst and Sandhurst were catered for in Parish Poorhouses. These were located at Church Court, Hawkhurst (TQ 72 NE 140), Fairview Cottages, Back Road, Sandhurst (TQ 72 NE 132) and Goudhurst House, High Street, Goudhurst(TQ 73 NW 200). The location of the Poorhouses in Benenden and Frittenden is not available.

Cranbrook Union Workhouse was built in 1838. The architect was John Whichcord who also designed workhouses at Dartford, Malling and Tonbridge. There was a large entrance block to the east. It was a two storey building constructed of Tonbridge stone ashlar and had slate hipped roofs with gable parapets and a gabled cross-wing projecting in the centre of a taller gable parapetted centre block. There were tall brick stacks on the gablets. It had a nine window front comprising a three bay central block flanked by three bay wings. The windows were tripartite sash with keyed heads and the central block had a large central pointed arch, in a chamfered surround. Besides the entrance block, there were further blocks each side and a central T-shaped block to the rear. In around 1930, the workhouse became a Public Assistance Institution under the authority of Kent County Council and was renamed Hartley House. In 1986, it was in operation as a nursing home. The site has now (2007) been converted to residential use and several of the buildings have been demolished. However, the entrance block survives and is Grade II listed. [3-5]

English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Kent Workhouses
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© 2017 Kent Workhouses, 2018, Kent Workhouses & Poorhouses (Website). SKE51755.

<3> Uncatalogued Archive File - Workhouses 100947 (Verbal communication). SKE59232.

<4> Peter Higginbotham, Higginbotham, Peter. 2000. The Workhouse. (Website). SKE53741.

<5> Kathryn Morrison, 1999, The Workhouse: A Study of Poor Law Buildings in England (Monograph). SKE58618.