Poundsbridge Manor
| Poundsbridge Manor | |
| Kent | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Poundsbridge Manor | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ52754399 |
| Location: | 51°10’29"N, -0°11’1"E |
| Village: | Penshurst |
| History | |
| Built 1593 | |
| For: | William Durtnell by John and Brian Durtnell |
| Manor house | |
| Information | |
Poundsbridge Manor is an grand, oak timber-framed house built in 1593 by John and Brian Durtnall for their father William, Rector of Penshurst from 1563 to 1596.[1] It is locally nicknamed "The Picture House".
The builders' company, R. Durtnell & Sons, continued trading over 13 generations of the same family for more than four hundred years, and was Britain's oldest building company when it finally ceased trading in July 2019.[2]
History
The house was built in 1593. Originally the house was called "Durtnolls" and it has an inscription "1593 WD ETA 69". 'WD' are the initials of William Durtnell and the letter D, looking like an inverted Q, is the Gothic form of the letter. ETA 69 (ETA is a mistake for "aet", aetatis suae) means he was 69 years old when the house was finished.[3]
In 1678 the house was owned by an Edmond Woodgate and he left it to his nephew Thomas Woodgate, a yeoman of Farningham, who left it to his wife. Later, it was divided in two and one part became a tavern.[1]
The house was illustrated by Samuel Prout,[4] was also illustrated in a book of 1810 in a drawing by Paul Amsinck, engraved by Letitia Byrne[5] and by an F. Grant in 1906 (a picture owned by Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery).[6][7]
In 1906 the house was described as "Pounds Bridge" inn and being "on a secluded road between Speldhurst and Penshurst, in Kent".[3] It is now a Grade II listed building.[8]
During the Second World War, the house was hit by a stray bomb and the extensive rebuilding that was required was carried out by Durtnell's; the same company that had built the house 350 years before.[9]
Pictures
-
House at Pounds Bridge, by Letitia Byrne, 1810 -
Harper's sketch of "Pounds Bridge" Inn in 1906 -
Poundsbridge Manor in 1995
_(cropped).jpg)
Outside links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Poundsbridge Manor". Domesday Reloaded. BBC. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150925061510/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-552000-141000/page/17. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
- ↑ ’Britain's oldest building firm collapses’: BBC News, 4 July 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Harper, Charles G. (1906). The Old Inns of Old England, Volume II. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 221. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140427050914/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43866/43866-h/43866-h.htm#Page_221.
- ↑ "Samuel Prout, O.W.S. (Diss, Norfolk 1783–1852 London) Poundsbridge Manor, Poundsbridge, Penshurt, Kent". Christie's. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140427014953/http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/samuel-prout-ows-poundsbridge-manor-poundsbridge-penshurt-5588978-details.aspx. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
- ↑ Amsinsk, Paul: 'Tunbridge Wells and its Neighbourhood' (William Miller, 1810) page 67
- ↑ "The Picture House at Poundsbridge, Kent". Art UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-picture-house-at-poundsbridge-kent-77332. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
- ↑ "The Picture House at Poundsbridge, Kent | Art UK" (in en). Public Catalogue Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171202173150/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-picture-house-at-poundsbridge-kent-77332. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1243345: The Picture House
- ↑ "Thicker than Morter". Kent Life. Kent Life. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140427011737/http://www.kent-life.co.uk/out-about/places/thicker_than_mortar_1_1633948. Retrieved 26 April 2014.