Nurstead Court, Meopham (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Nutstead; Nurstead Manor; Nursestead; Nutsted

In the civil parish of Meopham.
In the historic county of Kent.
Modern Authority of Kent.
1974 county of Kent.
Medieval County of Kent.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ64006853
Latitude 51.39244° Longitude 0.35660°

Nurstead Court, Meopham has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Circa 1320 by Bishop Stephen de Gravesend. An aisled timber hall of 4 bays which survived complete until 1825 when half was pulled down and replaced by a stuccoed brick villa. This was "tudorised" in 1850 with gables and one bay added and faced in recently invented Portland Cement. At north-west corner C13 ruins of building of unknown purpose of flint and chalk in chequers. The hall is enclosed by an 11 ft high wall of knapped flint with dressings of Caen stone. The tiled roof is supported on 21 in diameter oak columns carrying deeply moulded curved braces to aisle purlins and to cambered beam which supports a squat crown post. This is braced to short collars and the medial purlin. Mouldings stopped with leaf carvings as on the capitals. One remaining gabled dormer window trannioned in stone. Dais at west end. Chamber on first floor. Library has early C19 "Gothick" bookcases. Semi-circular stair also C19. (Listed Building Report)

Part of an early 14th century aisled hall house, incorporated into an early 19th century villa. The medieval house comprised a two-bay open hall flanked by open single-bay ends, with the service end to the east. This bay, along with half of the open hall, was demolished in the 1820s and replaced by a brick-built, stuccoed house which was 'Tudorized' in 1850. Within the external stone walls the 14th century house is entirely timber framed, with a crown post roof supported on oak columns. Tree ring dating suggests that the timbers used were probably felled circa 1314. A ruinous stone structure attached to the north west corner of the medieval house has been shown to pre-date the hall range though the exact date and function of this structure are unclear. It is thought that a detached kitchen block stood east of the house and further buildings, possibly medieval in date, stood to the north. (PastScape summary based mainly on Cherry, 1989)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1350239
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 413222; 948864.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) TQ 66 NW 7; MKE27783.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Owners website
Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 378-81
  Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Kent (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 56
  Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 180
  Pearson, Sarah, Barnwell, P.S. and Adams, A.T., 1994, A gazetteer of medieval houses in Kent p. 74-7
  Newman, John, 1976, Buildings of England: West Kent and the Weald (Harmondsworth) p. 439-440
  Oswald, Arthur, 1933, Country houses of Kent p. 14-15
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 2 p. 281-2 online copy
  Hasted, Edward, 1797 (2edn), The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent Vol. 3 p. 351-6 (manorial history) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Cherry, M., 1989, 'Nurstead Court, Kent: a re-appraisal' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 146 p. 451-64
  Caiger, J.E.L., 1966, 'A Medieval Site near Meopham' Kent Archaeological Research Groups Council Newsletter Vol. 4 p. 16-17
  Smith, J.T., 1955, 'Medieval Aisled Halls and Their Derivatives' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 112 p. 82, 84-6, 90
  E.I.C., 1837, 'Nursted Court, Kent' The Gentleman's Magazine Vol. 7 part 1 p. 364-7 online copy
Guidebooks
- Pryor, E.A., 1988., Nurstead Court (Privately published)

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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