Speldhurst is the parish village for Langton Green and Old Groombridge, north-west of Tunbridge Wells in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its name is usually explained as Old English for a wooded hill. The church of St Mary was designed by John Oldrid Scott and dedicated in 1871, and is known for its stained glass by Burne-Jones and William Morris.
The George and Dragon
The George and Dragon pub shows the village's building tradition in one place. It is listed at Grade II* and began as a late medieval open hall house, probably of the late fifteenth century, with the hall floored over around 1600. It has exposed timber framing on coursed sandstone footings, peg tiles hung on the west end and the rear, and nineteenth and twentieth-century casements with glazing bars, several of them iron-framed.
What that means for windows
Speldhurst has a conservation area round its old centre, reviewed by the council in 2006, and the council's site assessments describe the edge of the village as a sensitive location within the AONB. The George and Dragon's mix of timber frame, sandstone, tile-hanging and glazing-bar casements is a fair guide to what the older houses round it are built of.
- Listed houses: listed building consent is needed for any change. Expect timber casements made to the existing pattern, or secondary glazing inside.
- Unlisted older houses in the conservation area: new windows must look similar to the old. A flush casement with slim bars in a muted colour is the usual choice, in uPVC or aluminium.
- Later houses: see the later houses page.
Tile-hung walls need care when frames come out, as the tiles above and beside the opening can be disturbed. The surveyor notes this at the visit.
The architect of Calverley Park, Decimus Burton, also designed Burrswood, at Stone Cross in the parish.
More on the village: Speldhurst on Wikipedia.