Farmstead record WLP 030 - Farmstead: The Old Thatch

The Old Thatch Is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular U-plan with the farmhouse attached to the agricultural range. The farmstead sits alongside a public road in an isolated location. This farmstead survives intact with conversion for residential use.

The Old Thatch is one of three 16th or early 17th century farmsteads standing on low-lying land to the east of the River Blyth. There has been comparatively little loss of the historic field pattern on the eastern side of Peasenhall Road.
The Old Thatch is a later 16th century timber-framed structure which retains its original liner four-cell plan. The parlour was originally at the northern end with a central living kitchen, and two small unheated chambers at the southern end. Between the kitchen and the two unheated chambers survives a cross-passage with an original plank and muntin partition. The house would once have been relatively high status but appears to have declined at a relatively early date, by the 1850 tithe map it had no farmland of its own, and was occupied as tenements. The barn and a further outbuilding are shown on the 1850 tithe map but were unlikely to have been used the occupiers of the farmhouse during the period. At some point between 1850 and 1884 the house was divided into a pair of semi-detached cottages. A small single-storey brick wash house and store had been built to the immediate east, which still survives. A further small outbuilding to the north east by the then boundary of the land which was marked by the former farmhouses northern gable. The outbuilding at the southern tip of the plot had already been demolished. By 1904 the northern boundary of the plot had been swept away, as had the outbuilding that stood adjacent to it. At some point in the late 19th or first half of the 20th century The Old Thatch is believed to have become part of Hillhouse Farm, which is located to the north east. The two cottages were combined to form a single dwelling and externally altered before 1977. The thatched porch and latticed window frames are of twentieth century date.
The weather boarded barn at the southern end of the plot is of a relatively small size compared to other surviving timber framed barns in eastern Suffolk. It is most likely to date from the last quarter of the 16th century or the first half of the 17th century, either contemporary to The Old Thatch or slightly later in date Sections of the original plaster infill between the timbers still survive, suggesting that the weatherboarding is a later 18th or 19th century alteration. It is likely that the western section of the barn has been both horizontally and vertically sub-divided at some point. On the southside of the barn two small wings are shown flanking the central cart entrance on the 1850 tithe map. By 1884 the two lean-tos on the barn's southern elevation had been linked by a central cart porch which still survives. An open-fronted cart shed or loose box range was built between the house and barn at some point between 1850 and 1884, it is attached to the barn at its southern end and faces west into the courtyard. The structure has since been altered or rebuilt. It is timber-framed and weatherboarded with a simple queen-post truss roof with raised collar ties made from machine cut timbers. The roof is covered with black pantiles to its western elevation and red pan tiles to its eastern elevation (S1).

Recorded as part of the Farmsteads in the Suffolk Countryside Project. This is a purely desk-based study and no site visits were undertaken. These records are not intended to be a definitive assessment of these buildings. Dating reflects their presence at a point in time on historic maps and there is potential for earlier origins to buildings and farmsteads. This project highlights a potential need for a more in depth field study of farmstead to gather more specific age data.