House & Garden 
placed further apart, and curved braces were 
inserted with larger plaster panels, as in the 
houses at Tonbridge and Northiam. 
Such construction is subject to great shrink¬ 
age of timber; and in time, various expedients 
for keeping out the weather had to be re¬ 
sorted to. To hang the walls ol the old 
buildings with tiles was naturally one ot these ; 
and the kind of thing that resulted may be 
seen in the Seven Stars Inn at Robertsbridge. 
In the eighteenth century tile hanging was 
very freely adopted, and many new buildings 
were treated in that way, as at Goudhurst. 
So common is it that hardly an old house is 
to be seen in which it does not somewhere 
make its appearance. Plastering, used at 
first only between timbers, was soon resorted 
to for covering entire exteriors ; and at a later 
date many houses were constructed with the 
original intention of being plastered on the 
outside, as in the case of the charming exam¬ 
ple at Charlton. Weather-boarded houses 
are also typical of the district, and are treated 
with due appreciation of the material. I he 
weather-boards, at first used to keep old 
houses dry, were afterwards employed in origi¬ 
nal construction, as in the house at Mayfield. 
The boards were generally six or seven inches 
wide, and were often tarred, making a very 
effective contrast with the red roofs and walls. 
In many parts of Sussex, as at I illington, 
near Petworth, houses are found in which the 
mullions, doorways and general walling are of 
stone, while the labels, strings and arches are 
of brick. Curiously enough the effect is not 
unpleasant. 
Chimneys were one of the most important 
elements in the external effect of a great 
many of the houses. The simple, bold way 
in which they rise from the roofs, or spring 
in clustering shafts from the sides or gabled 
ends (as at Penshurst), is always attractive. 
The utmost ingenuity seems to have been ex¬ 
erted in their arrangement; and almost all the 
THE WELL HOUSE, NEAR NORTHIAM 
l 9 
