The Cloth Hall, Kent: Incredibly Restored 14th Century Home

This jaw-dropping medieval property in Kent has a fascinating history, and it has been incredibly restored.

The magnificent Cloth Hall was built around 1430, in Smarden.

Smarden became very prosperous and some fine houses were built in the 15th and 16th centuries, many of which remain today.

The Cloth Hall (1430) is a fine example of a yeoman’s timber hall house.

Although it was originally built as a farm, it became the central clearing warehouse for the local cloth industry; the broad-cloth would have been taken from there to the port of Faversham.

The house was previously on the market via Hamptons for an eye-watering £4 million.

It’s also Grade 2 listed - a building is listed when it is of special architectural or historic interest considered to be of national importance.

The photo above, in the Historic England Archive, was taken in 1930.

In the 14th century and during the reign of Edward III, the ports of Rye and Faversham became hubs of great wealth due to the blossoming wool and cloth trade with Europe.

Nearby towns, such as Smarden, also benefited from this new trade frontier, producing homes of great beauty, such as The Cloth Hall.

This beautiful structure was remodelled by a wealthy cloth merchant called Thomas Yates.

Mr Yates turned it into a hub for the wool and cloth trades.

After being at the hub of England’s historic cloth industry, the home was later purchased by influential filmmaker John Noel.

John purchased the house in the 1920s.

He is a photographer, filmmaker and mountaineer, best known for his breathtaking 1924 film of the British Mount Everest expedition.

During the attempt to conquer the world’s highest mountain for the first time, climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared in brutally harsh conditions.

It is still not known whether the pair reached the summit of Everest, despite John Noel’s ground-breaking footage of the expedition.

Fast forward to today and the property has features fully renovated interiors and was on the market for £4m.

The interiors include five bedrooms and lashings of historical charm, such as exposed beams, wooden floors, inglenook fireplaces, timber-latch doors and hand-coloured stained glass.

All of this is combined with state-of-the-art appliances by Gaggenau and SubZero, a fitted Martin Moore kitchen and a Catchpole and Rye bathroom in the master suite, with free-standing copper bath.

The stunning landscaping also features a rose and lavender garden, ponds, an orchard and rows of Chardonnay grape vines.

In keeping with the theme of the house, there are also plenty of practical and modern aspects to the outdoor space, including a swimming pool, fire pit with stone seating and a double garage with its own gym and home studio.

The historic home is located in Smarden, said to have won the affection of Elizabeth I as she passed through from Sissinghurst Castle in the 1500s.

It was also the location of the 1980 film The Mirror Crack’d starring Elizabeth Taylor, and has been named Village of the Year and Kent’s Best Kept Village.

The village is only a short drive from nearby towns, including Ashford, Headcorn, Cranbrook and Tenterden.

The beautiful village also features the Anglican parish church of St Michael the Archangel which, because of its high scissor beam roof, is sometimes known as "The Barn of Kent".

The interior is lovely, and it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re near the area.

Check out more photos of the property below, courtesy of Hamptons estate agents.

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