Aspects of Kentish Local History

the date 1599. One of these ornaments, depicting a female head, is set up over the door of Yew Tree Cottage, which stands on a bank off the Doddington road, not far beyond Dadmans and almost opposite to the end of the lane leading eastward to Collyers Farm. The other medallion, depicting Romulus, is inserted in the face of the porch-gable of a house opposite to the south-east corner of Lynsted churchyard. It is accompanied by the date 1827, worked in the plaster, no doubt fixing the year when it was taken from Lodge after the partial ruin of the latter. The front door of Anchor House remains fortunately intact. It is fashioned by a process which in metal-work would be named "lamination," that is to say it consists of two layers. That now seen from the outside is the door from Lodge, while the original door is still retained at the back, and fastened to it. It has the interesting detail of a wicket, with ogee-pointed head, cut in the middle of it, though now closed up permanently. Of the original hinges part of the lower right still remains. On the wall within, to right of the passage way, is seen the embattled oak moulding which surmounted the screens. The most conspicuously beautiful feature of the facade, and one which has now completely perished, was a large window

of many lights with oak mullions, richly moulded, and divided by a transom into two tiers, on the ground floor of the west wing. This window was not in the middle, but considerably to left of the wing. Above it a smaller window, carried forward on a plastered cove and consisting of six lights, also divided by a transom, lighted the upper floor. This window was situated in the middle of the west wing gable. The house is the property of Miss Mildred Smith, having been acquired by her father, the late Mr. George Smith, of Lynsted, at the sale and dispersal of the Barling property in 1901. By a direct hit during an enemy raid in August 1940 it was almost entirely ruined. The roof of the upper storey contains a handsome king post, still in situ. The owner has collected and saved from the wreckage a number of beams and stored them in the hope that they may ultimately be replaced, if it should ever be possible to effect anything like restoration. As it is now, however, the lovely old Anchor House is as pitiable an eyesore as Hitler's bombing and the local Council's yellow brick combined could succeed in making it.
Grateful acknowledgments are due to the Courtauld Institute of Art for the use of the photograph, and particularly to Mr. Marshall Harvey, L.R.I.B.A., for his excellent detail drawings.