West Farleigh Hall

West Farleigh Hall
West façade of West Farleigh Hall
Location within Kent
General information
Town or city	West Farleigh
Country	England
Coordinates	51°14′49″N 0°27′12″E / 51.246938°N 0.453444°E / 51.246938; 0.453444
Completed	1719

West Farleigh Hall, previously known as Smith's Hall, is an 18th-century country house in West Farleigh, Kent.

A house on the site of West Farleigh Hall was owned by the Brewer family from the mid-15th century until 1762 when the house and estate was left by Jane Brewer to her cousin Rev. John Davis, Rector of Hamsey, East Sussex. Davis died in 1766 and the estate passed to his son Sir John Davis who sold it in 1774 to William Perrin. Perrin died in 1820. By 1838, the house was owned by Sir Henry FitzHerbert, son of Sir William FitzHerbert and his wife Sarah FitzHerbert (née Perrin, and probably William Perrin's niece).

The current house was constructed in 1719 as recorded in the dated rainwater hoppers. It is two-storeys and brick-built with a plain tile roof. The main façade on the west side is nine bays wide arranged symmetrically around a central doorway. The pale red brick façade is divided by projecting brick pilasters of darker red rubbed bricks into three equal sized sections. The first floor has nine sash windows of twelve panes with curved tops - three in each section. the ground floor window arrangement repeats that of the first floor except that the central doorway replaces the central window. The windows on both floors are framed in dark red rubbed bricks with the central voussoir brick enlarged to appear as a keystone. Recessed panels of brickwork are placed beneath the windows on each floor. The dark red brick detailing continues up the façade past the cornice into the brick parapet. The central doorway is a pair of doors in a later 18th century porch with a modillioned open pediment. The doors are larger than the opening with the upper panels concealed behind a lowered lintel.

The north and south side façades follow the pattern of the west façade but in red and grey brickwork, with pilasters at each side and the panelled parapet. The north façade is five bays wide with twelve pane sash windows on each floor constructed from a galletted ragstone plinth. The south façade has a brick plinth and the windows here are less regular with blocked windows on the west side at both levels and smaller six pane windows. A projecting bay fills the centre of the façade. The rear façade is divided by a central wing projecting eastwards which turns to the south to form the north and east sides of a courtyard. The rear of the main block has a cornice and two six pane windows. The central wing and its returns have six pane windows on the south side and twelve pane windows on the north side.