Farmstead record BSC 035 - Farmstead: St Clare Hall

St Clare Hall is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular E-plan with additional detached elements. The farmhouse is detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a private track in an isolated location. Only the farmhouse remains with modern sheds on site. (S1-4)

St Clare Hall is a moated, timber-framed house that occupies the site of a medieval manor belonging to the eponymous St Clare family. The present building contains three distinct phases of construction ranging in date from the 14th century to the 17th, and is of great historic interest. The front elevation comprises a ‘long-wall’ jettied parlour and central hall of the early-16th century and a service cross-wing of approximately a century later. The parlour contains fine 16th century panelling that is probably contemporary with its structure. The rear wing dates from the mid-14th century and was originally undivided on both its ground and upper storeys; it has been truncated and partly rebuilt but retains two finely carved octagonal crown-posts in its roof and appears to represent a manorial ‘court hall’ of exceptional rarity and historic significance. The house was linked to an important deer park in the Middle Ages, of which substantial remains still survive (S5)(S6).

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.