Franks Hall in

Horton Kirby Horton Kirby is a village in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.9 miles east of Swanley & 4.9 miles south of Dartford. Together with the nearby village of South Darenth, it forms the Horton Kirby and South Darenth civil p ...

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 ...

, () is a large Elizabethan country house, completed in 1591.The date ''1591'' in incorporated in a plasterwork ceiling The Grade I listed building remains a private house.

History

A former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

had been built on the opposite bank of the

River Darent The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford, as illustrated by the adjacent photograph, snapped at high tide. 'Darenth' is frequen ...

in 1220 by the Frankish family. When the Frankish family died out in the fifteenth century the property passed to the Martin family. The house was inherited by Lancelot Bathurst in the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. Bathurst built the surviving building on a new site in 1591. Bathurst died in 1594, and the house passed to his son Randolph and then to his son Sir Edward Bathurst. The house passed to Sir Thomas Bathurst and on his death in 1688 passed to his son Francis Bathurst and then on the death of Francis in 1738 to his daughter Beronice. She died in 1748 and the house was left to her daughter Susan, and via her to her husband John Tasker, a solicitor from Dartford. The Taskers had no children. After Susan died, Tasker remarried and lived in Franks Hall until his death in 1796. The house passed to his wife, who lived in it until her death in 1814. At this date, the house passed to Tasker's niece, a

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

woman who took little interest in the property. In the 1850s, Franks Hall was sold to a farmer by the name of Nicholas Ray. Under Ray's ownership, the building was used as a

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Alle ...

, and it soon began to decay. Ray died in 1860 and in 1861 Robert Bradford became the owner. Bradford had the house rebuilt, and changed internally. In 1877, Franks Hall was put up for auction. It was withdrawn at £65,000 as the reserve of £75,000 had not been met. It was later sold by private treaty for £70,000 to Frederick Power. The estate at this time was in extent. In 1883, the property was sold to Vavasour Earle. He built a picture gallery at the end of the lime avenue. This building was largely destroyed by incendiary bombs during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and only the walls remain now. Earle emigrated to United States in 1910, and the house was bought by

Lord Bathurst Earl Bathurst, of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The medieval English word was Botehurst, thought to date at least from the 13th century. Bote is the origination of Battle, although the family m ...

, thus returning to the family 153 years after it was lost to the Bathursts. Lord Bathurst gave Franks Hall to his son Lord Apsley in 1923 as a wedding present. The Apsleys only lived in Franks Hall for a few months and it then stood empty for about ten years. It was sold to Morris Wheeler, a wealthy

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...

and property owner from

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

. During the

, Franks Hall was used as a maternity home. Wheeler died in 1962 and his widow lived in the house until her death in 1977. The house was purchased by Michael Berry, who lived in it until 1980 when it was sold to Findlay Publications Ltd who restored it for use as their headquarters. The estate by this time had been reduced to in extent. The stable block was also purchased and converted to offices. The house has since been sold and has reverted to a private residence.

References

{{Coord, 51.3880, 0.2336, display=title, region:GB, format=dms Country houses in Kent Grade I listed houses in Kent Buildings and structures in Sevenoaks District Houses completed in 1591