| This photograph was taken for the sale brochure in 1915 when the Froyle House Estate was sold, but Sylvesters (also spelt Silvesters) is much older than that. It took its existing form in 1674, according to a date let into its back elevation. This date presumably refers to the time when the wing was added at right angles to a timberframed early Tudor house, then, or subsequently, hung with weather-tiling on its north and west sides and at the back faced in stone. This use of stone - from a quarry beside the main road - and the whole character of the house, belong rather to the country across the Wey, with its geological affinities to Sussex, than to Froyle and North Hampshire: implying that the latter’s tradition of brick building was not yet established. The 1674 wing has moulded brick window jambs and lintels, with stone mullions on the south and original wooden casements on the north. A Sylvester appears in the registers in 1670, and others of the name up till 1760; in 1800 Sylvesters was one of Sir Thomas Miller’s farms. It is worth noting the Scots Pines in the front garden - see link below. |