16 AND 18, BRIDEWELL LANE

Details

BURY ST EDMUNDS

TL8563NE BRIDEWELL LANE 639-1/11/205 (West side) 07/08/52 Nos.16 AND 18

GV II

House, now divided into 2. C15, with earlier fragments to part and later extensions to front. Timber-framed, render to No.16, roughcast to No.18; plaintiles. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys, attics and cellars; half-H form, with 2 projecting storied cross-wings to north and south and a former 2-bay open hall in the centre, now divided between the 2 properties on the line of the inserted chimney-stack, which has a cruciform red brick shaft. No.16 has random fenestration, partly as a result of mid-C20 restoration. On the ground storey of the cross-wing a tripartite small-paned sash window; on the 1st storey, a 12-pane sash in a flush cased frame; a small sliding sash to the attic. The hall range has a rectangular projecting bay with a fixed 12-pane window and flat roof on the ground storey, and just below the eaves, a small 2-light ovolo-moulded mullioned window. In the slope of the roof a flat-headed dormer with a small-paned 2-light casement window. The entrance door on the north side of the wing has a heavy Greek Doric doorcase with fluted columns, a triglyph frieze and a cornice: this was removed from Blomfield House in the 1960s when it was demolished to make way for the Health Centre. INTERIOR: an impressive fireplace surround and overmantel on the south wall with enriched bolection-mouldings has also been introduced from elsewhere and does not relate to a chimney-stack. The cross-wing has exposed framing only on the north wall adjoining the hall; on the 1st storey the wallplate has an edge-halved scarf joint with undersquinted bridled abutments. At the rear of the wing the roof has been raised. The hall range is separately framed with an open truss butted up against the wing: this has a main post with bracket and shaft and a long arched brace to the tie-beam. One bay of the hall is in each house: in No.16 the lower bay, which has been opened up to tie-beam level. Along the front wall the studding remains only above the level of the middle rail, and the central open truss is now immediately in front of the inserted stack, which was placed over the site of the open hearth. The main post of the central truss, visible in the front wall, has ogee-moulding and the remains of a bracket and shaft with a long arched brace to the tie-beam above. Traces of red ochre colouring on some of the timbers.

In the attic storey the crown-post, standing on a cambered tie-beam, has a tall octagonal shaft moulded at cap and base and originally braced 4 ways; the braces to the collar-purlin have been removed and the roof is ceiled over at collar level so that no rafters are visible. The cross-wing of No.18 has a narrow one-and-a-half storey extension on the north side and a wide single-storey extension on the south. All windows are C19 sashes in flush cased frames with a single vertical glazing-bar, except for one former shop window, with a moulded fascia and cornice, to the right of the entrance and a small paned 2-light casement window to the upper storey of the former hall. C19 extensions at the rear of the wing are now occupied as a separate house. A 4-panel door with the top 2 panels glazed and a blank rectangular fanlight in a wooden surround with a flat bracketed pediment. INTERIOR: much modernised during the 1980s with many original features concealed, particularly in the cross-wing. A fine flint and stone cellar has vaulting in C17 brick. There is a thick wall of rubble flint between the hall and the wing with the stone jamb to one side of a doorway; the doorhead is missing. On the hall side of this wall is a 2nd open truss with an ogee-moulded and cambered tie-beam supported by arched braces; a crown-post, moulded at cap and base, above. The collar-purlin is a replacement, but the collars and rafters are original. The hall timbers are all massive and lightly smoke-blackened. In the front wall, the rebate for the former hall window which had an ogee-moulded surround. The mortice-holes suggest that the mullions were moulded. Mid-C17 inserted ceiling over the hall, on 2 levels. Main beams with chamfer and scroll stops; plain joists. The C17 chimney-stack has a timber lintel, chamfered, with scroll stops.



Listing NGR: TL8552563964

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

466665

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.