Bradbourne House is a Queen Anne style country house near

East Malling East Malling is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling, Kent, in the part of the civil parish of East Malling and Larkfield lying south of the A20 road. In 2019 the ward had an estimated population of 5478. History The earliest reco ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It set in of parkland.

Location

The house is between the

A20 road This is a list of roads designated A20. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * ''A20 road (Australia)'' may refer to: ** Sturt Highway, a road in South Australia & New South Wales ** Gawler Bypass, a road in South Austral ...

and

M20 motorway The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is long. Although not signposted in England, ...

and East Malling railway station.

History

The house was originally built during the

Tudor period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in History of England, England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in Englan ...

, and retains some of the original features in the kitchen. The north front is constructed from red brick with orange dressings. It was extended and altered between 1713 and 1715 by Sir Thomas Twysden; much of the panelling in the house dates from this era. Additional improvements were made in 1748, including a new attic wing. It was internally refurbished in 1774, and fitted with a new three-bay bow along the house's south front. The house was owned by the Twisden family until 1937 when the last baronet, Sir John Ramskill Twisden, died. In 1938, the estate was purchased by the East Malling Trust for Horticultural Research, together with around of adjoining land. The Trust's income supports horticultural research at the nearby

East Malling Research Station NIAB EMR is a horticultural and agricultural research institute at East Malling, Kent in England, with a specialism in fruit and clonally propagated crop production. In 2016, the institute became part of the National Institute of Agricultural ...

. It was Grade 1 listed in 1952. The house is occasionally open to the public and offers guided tours, as is the collection of trained trees alongside the walled garden. It has become a popular venue for weddings. In 2018, nearby residents complained over plans to turn a former research site owned by East Malling Trust near the house into 400 new homes. The trust explained that the money gained from selling the land to developers would be re-invested in Bradbourne House and gardens.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site
Country houses in Kent Tonbridge and Malling Grade I listed houses in Kent