page_title: Sharsted Court
section_title: Main house
hierarchical_section_title: Sharsted Court / Architecture / Main house
caption_attribution_description: English: Gravel driveway and main gates, Sharsted Court, The gazebo on the left is a Grade II listed building. This is a photo of listed building number 1069327.
context_page_description: Sharsted Court is a grade I listed manor house set in woodland near the village of Newnham, Kent England. A house or lodge has been recorded at the site since the time of Odo de Bayeux in 1080, however the present building, exhibiting a number of later styles, principally dates from the 18th century. Earlier residents of the site may have included Iron Age settlers since excavations of earthworks on the estate in 1825 and 1880 revealed evidence of possible Belgic fortifications.
context_section_description: The main house is built around a two-storey mediæval hall house possibly dating to the 14th century. This rectangular hall was heated by an open fireplace and features an arched roof with extensive oak beams and rafters. The south-west of the property is timber-framed and is believed to date also to the mid-14th century and possibly to have been used as a 'dowager wing' of the main hall by the widow of Robert de Nottingham.
  In 1711 a brick front was added to the main hall house, and  two wings with tiled roofs, wooden cornice work and large dormers. The grand centre section of the building includes imitation battlements and a working belfry (believed to have been used previously to call workers on the estate). The pedimented entrance porch includes a coat-of-arms.
  During the 19th century an additional three-storey Victorian wing was built, squaring off the existing buildings and creating a central courtyard. However this imposing structure was demolished in 1967 for aesthetic reasons; a conservatory was appended to the remaining Victorian east wing in 1987.
  The house includes a so-called "drunken" staircase (on account of its unorthodox angles), which is reputedly "the 13th stairway to be constructed in the house, leading to the 79th room". In common with a number of old manor houses in England, the house also contains a "secret" passageway via a cleverly marked panel in the wainscoting of the 'Tapestry Dressing-room': "which communicates by a very narrow and steep flight of steps in the thickness of the wall with 'the Red Bedroom'."  It has been speculated by the current owners that this was installed and used by one of the previous male owners to travel secretly between bed chambers for romantic liaisons.
  A number of additional cottage buildings and ancillary structures (such as former stables) exist on the site and incorporate similar styles to the main house. The property is Grade I listed.
caption: Driveway viewed from the main house
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