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This is a timber framed Wealden hall house from Chiddingstone in Kent. It
has six rooms, four on the ground floor and two upstairs. The house was
built in two phases. The earliest part, which has been dendro-dated to
1405-1430, consisted of an open hall and service end. This was probably
attached to an earlier structure, which stood where the upper end now
stands. The upper end bay that gave the building its present form was added
between 1480 and 1520, replacing the earlier structure. We have recreated a
Tudor farmstead at the Museum with the addition of the barn from Cowfold
(1536), a farmyard, orchard and garden. Winkhurst kitchen (c.1492-1537),
which is from the neighbouring village of Sundridge, is typical of the sort
of detached kitchen that a house like Bayleaf would have had.
Like Boarhunt, this house has a clearly defined upper & lower end. It is
likely that most cooking took place in the detached kitchen rather than the
hall. We have called the two ‘service’ rooms at the lower end the pantry
(from the French word for bread, pain) & the buttery (for the storage of
‘butts’ or casks), reflecting contemporary use in other houses. However, in
practice most food preparation and storage probably took place in the
kitchen. The lower chamber at the upper end of the hall (sometimes called a
parlour) would have been used for sleeping & as a private living space for
the householder & his wife. The upper chamber above the parlour was
evidently the most important bedroom since it had an en-suite toilet (in
contemporary parlance, a privy or a ‘jakes). The upper chamber above the
service rooms would have been used for sleeping as well as to store
agricultural produce such as processed grain & wool.
In the sixteenth century Bayleaf was a substantial farm of between 100 and
130 acres. Its occupants were successive members of the Wells family,
affluent yeomen farmers, who held the farm on a long lease from the manor of
Bore Place. Thomas Wells, who lived in Bayleaf from c.1560, had at least six
children, not all of whom survived to adulthood. We know the names of his
children because they are recorded in the parish register. We do not know
the name of his wife. The family is likely to have had one or two live-in
female servants.
Bayleaf is often used by history re-enactment groups. With it's
authentic interior and beautiful garden, the atmosphere of medieval times is
recreated. We use this property for Tudor Textiles and
Period Workshops.
Maps of the Bayleaf Farmstead
Click to enlarge the
picture for viewing and printing (pdf format)
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