Listed Building: ELMS FARMHOUSE (281654)

MENDLESHAM OLD STATION ROAD TM 16 NW 7/69 Elms Farmhouse 29.7.55 (formerly listed as The Elms) -- II* Former farmhouse. Late C15 with C16 alterations. C19 wing to north. Timber framed and rendered, roof of concrete pantiles. A 3-cell house of Wealden type. 2 storeys and attic. Jetties to north: service end jetty retains original brackets and buttress-shafts; jetty at parlour end concealed by later additions. South front has mid C20 standard casement windows. Lobby entrance: doorcase has eared architrave, frieze and pedimented cornice; semi- glazed door in 2 leaves. Internal stack; external stack at west gable end. Interior. 2-bay former open hall with heavy close studding exposed on upper floor. Central truss has arched-braced cambered tie beam carrying tall octagonal crown-post, moulded at cap and base, with 2-way bracing to the collar purlin. Roof considerably altered and now of side purlin form, although the lower row of purlins, with short wind braces, appear to be original. Moulded and embattled dais beam. 2-bay parlour, the gable end wall and part of south wall rebuilt. Parlour ceiling has mutilated cross beams with remains of hollow moulding and a central band of leaf ornament; plain joists. Former outside wall to north shows part of jetty (similar to service end), remains of embattling on the mid rail and a blocked window with chamfered mullions. An original blocked doorway in south wall of parlour chamber may have led to a garderobe. Most of timbers in service cell concealed. A half-bay between hall and parlour, probably for a timber flue, now accommodates the C16 stack, with open fireplaces on both floors. High quality C16 inserted floor in hall has roll-moulding to main beam, joists and cornice; the joists in the lower half are concealed. Parlour chamber and upper bay of hall chamber have cambered ceilings with deeply-chamfered joists. The most important feature of the house is the survival of much wall painting, principally of late C16. In parlour chamber, extensive and well-preserved all-over decoration of stylised flowers, framed by ribbons and coils, in white, pink and red, on a slate grey ground. A frieze incorporates framed texts from the Coverdale Bible, and shields bearing the initials of Richard Kybyll, thought to be a descendant of the original builder. Upper half of hall chamber has less well preserved remains of painting on 4 walls, the wall against the open truss comprising vertical lapped elm boards. The all-over design incorporates flowers enclosed by contiguous quatrefoils, with larger geometric panels above tie beam level and remains of further framed texts and a shield initialled 'K' over 'RA'. North wall of parlour has early C17 regular grey overpainting of studding, between which are 8 red ochre motifs. Over the fireplace are 3 identical red ochre designs showing a shield with an elaborate surround of stylised foliage. Proceedings of Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, Vol.36, pp.221-3. Period Homes, September 1987, pp.24-5. Listing NGR: TM1031265353