Building record SEN 073 - Church Cottage

Church Cottage is a timber-framed domestic house that consists of two early-17th century phases of construction, one of which may incorporate elements of a mid-16th century building. A central brick chimney separates a hall of 1610 to its right (north-east) from a rebuilt parlour of c.1630 to its left. The eaves of the hall were initially lower than those of the parlour but the existing symmetrical façade has been achieved by raising its front wall (the original height remains to the rear) and by replacing a northern service bay with a small rear wing. This pattern of evolution is very common in Suffolk, but a pair of carved ceiling corbels in the hall, bearing two sets of initials and the date 1610, is a rare feature of particular historic interest. The house was originally thatched, possessed a spiral stair behind its chimney, and contained an attic room that was lit by a window in its parlour gable (S1)(S2).