BROADWATER HUNDRED 



WALRERN 



Walchra (xi cent.) ; Walkre, Waukre, Wauker 



The parish of Walkern has an area of 2,991 acrrri, 

 of which 1,7374 acres are arable land, 686| acres 

 permanent grass, and 138 acres woods and planta- 

 tions 1 Nearly all the western half is over 300 ft. 

 in height ; the valley of the little River Beane causes 

 a slight depression down the centre of the parish, 

 but the land rises again in the east, and at three 

 points, Walkern Hall, Bassus Green, and Walkcrn 

 Park, reaches a height of over 400 ft. 



The village lies off the main road in the valley of 

 the Beane on the road to Walton. It is fairly large 

 and somewhat straggling, the church, rectory and 

 school, and Walkern Place, a 1 7 th-century farm-house 

 of timber and plaster, re faced in the 18th century, 



lying at the north end. There are several* 17th- 

 century cottages in the village, and the White Lion 

 Inn, although much altered, is probably of that date. 

 At the south end of the village are the mill on the 

 River Beane and the early 17th-century farm-house 

 called Rook's Nest. It is chiefly built of the narrow 

 z-inch red bricks, and is of two stories and attics. 

 It is L-shaped on plan, though a long brew-house 

 projects northward from the kitchen wing. The 

 main building faces east, and has the usual two-storied 

 gabled porch nearly in the centre of the front. At 

 the back is a boldly projecting staircase carried well 

 above the eaves of the main building and finished 

 with a gable. A long kitchen wing facing the south 

 projects from the main building. The main building 

 is divided internally into two nearly equal parts by 

 the massive substructure of the central chimney, the 

 drawing-room or old parlour being on the right of 

 the entrance, and the hall, now the dining room, on 





s from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 



the left. In both these rooms the old fireplaces 

 have been built up and modern grates substituted. 

 A south entrance door formerly existed from the 

 dining room. The staircase opens directly into the 

 dining room, and the arrangement of the stair is very 

 similar to that at Queen Hoo Hall, Tewin, and is 

 an intermediate stage between the newel and the 

 open stair ; but in this instance the stair winds round 

 three sides only of the timber-framed newel, which 

 is 2 ft. 3 in. wide, and is lined up to the first floor level 

 with old oak panelling. The panels are moulded, 

 and inside each is a lozenge-shaped inner panel. This 

 is the only old panelling left in the house. At the 

 landing above are some flat-moulded balusters, cut 

 out of 3 in. by I J in. oak. The kitchen has an 

 old fireplace 9 ft. 6 in. wide, with a plain lintel, 

 which is partly occupied by a modern range. There 

 is a small parlour between the kitchen entrance and 

 the dining room. The whole of the kitchen wing 

 is formed of timber framing, the timbers being 

 placed close together and filled in between with thin 

 bricks. The chimney over the main building has a 

 group of four square shafts set diagonally on a massive 

 square base ; the chimney over the kitchen v'~- 

 of wide brickwork, with a plain 1 

 width. The roofs are tiled. All the 1 

 the east front have moulded mullions ai 

 formed in cement, and over each is a brick dripstone 

 with returned ends. All the windows on the south 

 front have been modernized. They formerly had oak 

 mullions and diamond-shaped lead lights. 



Bridgefoot Farm, an interesting and picturesque 

 timber-framed house, stands a little to the south-west 

 of the church, and was probably erected about the 

 beginning of the 17th century. It has been very 

 little altered externally, and internally the old arrange- 

 ment of the plan is still quite clear, though a few 

 partitions have been added and the rooms modernized. 

 The plan is L-shaped and the principal entrance is 

 on the north side, and formerly opened directly into 

 the common living room or hall, but this has been 

 subdivided into a sitting-room, dairy and passage to 

 the kitchen at the back. The beams over the hall 

 are 1 7 in. wide, and the soffits are carved with a flat 

 geometrical ornament consisting of alternate rows of 

 four circles and four rectangular figures all connected 

 together by fillets. There is no other carved work 

 in the house. The old wide square-headed fireplace 

 of the hall still remains in the sitting room, but a 

 modern grate has been inserted and the sides filled 

 with cupboards. To the right of the hall is the old 

 parlour, with a wide slightly projecting bay window, 

 which is carried up to the floor above and finished 

 with a gable, very similar to those at Wymondley Hall 

 and Egerton House, Great Berkhampstead. Between 

 the parlour and the north front is a small outhouse, 

 evidently part of the original plan. Beyond the hall, 

 and forming the wing of the building, is the kitchen, 

 which still retains its old fireplace, I oft. 6 in. in 

 width, although it is partly occupied by a modern 

 range. The old seats have given way to cupboards, 

 but the small niches for flagons still remain, as at 

 Upp Hall, Braughing. A small gabled staircase 

 occupies the angle of the |_ between the old hall and 



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