Poundsbridge Manor
{{short description|Oak timber-framed house built in 1593}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox building|name=Poundsbridge Manor
|image=The Picture House (geograph 4412527).jpg
|image_caption =Poundsbridge Manor (the "Picture House")
| coordinates = {{coords|51|09|18|N|0|12|01|E|region:GB_scale:50000|display=inline,title}}
|map_type=Kent
|relief=yes
|map_caption=Location in Kent, England
|completion_date=1593
|architect=John & Brian Durtnell
}}
Poundsbridge Manor, nicknamed "The Picture House", is an oak timber-framed house built in 1593 by John and Brian Durtnall for their father William, Rector of Penshurst from 1563 to 1596.{{cite news|last=McCooey|first=Christopher|title=A family business for 400 years|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/baeb5b70-1696-11da-8081-00000e2511c8.html#axzz302HeO5u7|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140426231304/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/baeb5b70-1696-11da-8081-00000e2511c8.html%23axzz302HeO5u7|archivedate=26 April 2014|url-status=dead|newspaper=Financial Times|date=27 August 2005|url-access=subscription}} Originally, it was called "Durtnolls" and it has an inscription "1593 WD ETA 69". WD are the initials of William Durtnell and the letter D, looking like an inverted Q, is the Gothic form of the letter. ETA 69 (ETA is a mistake for "aet", aetatis suae) means he was 69 years old when the house was finished.{{cite book|last=Harper|first=Charles G.|authorlink=Charles George Harper|title=The Old Inns of Old England, Volume II|publisher=Chapman and Hall|year=1906|location=London|page=221|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43866/43866-h/43866-h.htm#Page_221|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427050914/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43866/43866-h/43866-h.htm#Page_221|archivedate=27 April 2014|df=dmy-all}} In 1678 it was owned by an Edmond Woodgate and he left it to his nephew Thomas Woodgate, a yeoman of Farningham, who left it to his wife. Later, it was divided in two and one part became a tavern.{{cite web|title=Poundsbridge Manor|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-552000-141000/page/17|work=Domesday Reloaded|publisher=BBC|accessdate=26 April 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925061510/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-552000-141000/page/17|archivedate=25 September 2015|df=dmy-all}}
It was illustrated by Samuel Prout,{{cite web|title=Samuel Prout, O.W.S. (Diss, Norfolk 1783–1852 London) Poundsbridge Manor, Poundsbridge, Penshurt, Kent|url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/samuel-prout-ows-poundsbridge-manor-poundsbridge-penshurt-5588978-details.aspx|publisher=Christie's|accessdate=26 April 2014|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427014953/http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/samuel-prout-ows-poundsbridge-manor-poundsbridge-penshurt-5588978-details.aspx|archivedate=27 April 2014|df=dmy-all}} was also illustrated in a book of 1810 in a drawing by Paul Amsinck, engraved by Letitia Byrne{{cite book|last=Amsinsk|first=Paul|title=Tunbridge Wells and its Neighbourhood|year=1810|publisher=William Miller, Albemarle St. and Edmund Lloyd, Harley St|page=67|url=http://www.theweald.org/B10.asp?BookId=ams067|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427013417/http://www.theweald.org/B10.asp?BookId=ams067|archivedate=27 April 2014|df=dmy-all}} and by an F. Grant{{efn|Not Sir Francis Grant.}} in 1906 (owned by Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery).{{cite web|title=The Picture House at Poundsbridge, Kent|work=Art UK|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-picture-house-at-poundsbridge-kent-77332|accessdate=26 April 2014|df=dmy-all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202173150/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-picture-house-at-poundsbridge-kent-77332|archive-date=2 December 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=The Picture House at Poundsbridge, Kent {{!}} Art UK|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-picture-house-at-poundsbridge-kent-77332#|website=artuk.org|publisher=Public Catalogue Foundation|accessdate=2 December 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202173150/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-picture-house-at-poundsbridge-kent-77332|archivedate=2 December 2017}}
In 1906 it was described as "Pounds Bridge" inn and being "on a secluded road between Speldhurst and Penshurst, in Kent". It is now a Grade II listed building.{{NHLE|num=1243345|desc=The Picture House|access-date=16 November 2017|mode=cs2}} In the Second World War, the house was hit by a stray bomb and the extensive rebuilding that was required was again done by Durtnell's.{{cite web|title=Thicker than Morter|url=http://www.kent-life.co.uk/out-about/places/thicker_than_mortar_1_1633948|work=Kent Life|publisher=Kent Life|accessdate=26 April 2014|date=24 April 2009|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427011737/http://www.kent-life.co.uk/out-about/places/thicker_than_mortar_1_1633948|archivedate=27 April 2014|df=dmy-all}}
{{clear}}
File:House at Pounds Bridge, Penshurst.jpg|House at Pounds Bridge, by Letitia Byrne, 1810
File:Pounds Bridge, Penshurst, Kent, 1906.jpg|Harper's sketch of "Pounds Bridge" Inn in 1906
File:Poundsbridge (geograph 2206704) (cropped).jpg|Poundsbridge Manor in 1995
References
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