Listed Building: HILL TOP FARMHOUSE (279228)

BAYLHAM TM 15 SW 3/35 Hill Top Farmhouse GV II House, formerly farmhouse. C15, with alterations of c.1621 (date carved on building). A 3-cell open hall house with a queen-post roof: this type is occasionally found in north-east Suffolk, but is very rare in mediaeval domestic buildings elsewhere in the county. 1 storey and attics. Timber- framed and plastered; a little C18 rope-pattern pargetting survives. Thatched roof with gabled casement dormers; these have carvea gable tie-beams, one with "1621.H.H.:H.H.1621" This is the assumed date of the alterations described below. Chimneys of red brick; the axial and north gable stacks are C17, the south stack with ovens is of c.1800. Various small-pane casements, mainly C19. One C17 ovolo-moulded mullioned window; another is complete but blocked. Boarded entrance door with C20 gabled open porch on posts. The nucleus of the house has a 2-bay open hall, heavily smoke-blackened, with widely-spaced arch- braced studwork. Each closed truss has a pair of queen-posts supporting a collar upon which large square-set purlins are lodged and supported by arch- braces. The open truss has a cambered collar above jowled queen-posts; the large arch-braces, the bottoms of the posts and the rest of the truss were removed in C17. The roof is otherwise without collars and has a ridge-piece, another rare feature, normally only found in N.E. Suffolk in this context. An original service cell survives, with lodged upper floor. A further cell was added to each end of the building with clasped purlin roofs, c.1621; also an inserted floor in the hall with ovolo-moulded joists. The inserted chimney backing against the cross-passage may be earlier. A chamber ceiling has C17 vine-scroll -plastering along the central beam. Formerly known as Harrow Farmhouse. Listing NGR: TM1008250571