The Tudor house in Margate, thought to be one of the oldest of its kind in Kent,
was open to the public on selected dates during the 2006 summer
season.
Situated
in King Street, it was built around 1525 and is typical of many houses
of that period. It’s believed that the Tudor House would have
been one of the largest buildings in Thanet and would probably have
belonged to a wealthy yeoman farmer. At the time of building, it
would have stood close to the bank of the stream which ran down Dane
Valley and entered the sea where Margate Harbour now is.
The oldest deed can be traced back to 1802, when the Tudor
House was a farmhouse owned by Francis Cobb. In 1815, the building was converted
into three cottages and the lower part of the exterior of the Tudor House was
plastered over, while inside the oak panelling was covered with wallpaper and
the beams were plastered over.
During the Second World War, the roof was
damaged and vibration from bombs led to it tilting forwards. In 1951,
restoration work started to return the house to its former glory, when the
panelling was completely restored and the windows and doorframes were
re-situated.