Swiss Farm Butchers the Debenham Gallery

Details

DEBENHAM HIGH STREET (east side) TM 16 SE 6/81 No.1 (The Debenham 9/12/55 Gallery), Swiss Farm Butchers, No.3 ( formerly listed as Premises immediately N. of Angel Inn; Premises 30yds N. of Angel Inn)

GV II*

Art gallery, shop and house. In 3 main parts: (a) an early C15 Wealden-type range parallel with the street (in 3 occupations); (b) a high quality early- mid C16 rear wing (part of No.3); (c) a mid C16 cross-wing to north of the earliest section (part of No.1). Timber framed, part plastered, part roughcast-rendered. Some mid C20 pargetting to Water Lane. Plaintiled roof. Cross-wing has decorative bargeboards. 2 storeys. Jetties to High Street are underbuilt; continuous jetty to Water Lane. Fine early-mid C16 2-storey porch: jettied upper floor with exposed studs and brick nogging; C19 scalloped bargeboards with spike finial. Open 4-centred arch with leaf-carved spandrels; original upper window with moulded mullions. Within the porch is the C15 2-centre arched doorway with old plank door; the opposing doorway is visible internally. To each side of the porch are late C19 projecting brick shopfronts: 8-paned windows to left, smaller single-paned windows to right with C19 hinged internal cross-slatted shutters; C20 doors. Casement windows at first floor, those to No.3 with C18 square-leaded panes. To extreme right, one bay of small-paned sash windows and a 6-panel door. Internal stack. Return front to Water Lane has 2 mullioned windows at first floor, one original, one of c.1600. North side of rear wing (b) (partly concealed by C17 addition) has exposed close studding and a jettied upper floor on original brackets springing from carved buttress-shafts; rope-pattern carving on bressummer. An original oriel window has carved sill and arched heads to the lights; some early diamond-leaded glass. Interior. The Wealden range has a 2-bay former open hall: open truss has cambered tie beam with missing braces supporting cross-quadrate crown-post with thick 4-way bracing at the head; the roof timbers, heavily sooted, are largely intact. 2 4-centre arched doorways from the cross-passage gave access to a shop (front) and service room (rear). Embattled mid rail shows evidence for shop windows and a shop doorway adjacent to the cross-entry. Massive ceiling joists with evidence for stairtrap at rear. One bay of the 2-bay parlour end was lost when the adjacent Angel Inn was built (qv. Item 6/82). Mid C16 inserted hall ceiling of very high quality: richly-moulded cross-beams, ogee-moulded joists, moulded cornice. Contemporary screen with moulded muntins. C16 stack inserted in upper bay of hall. Rear wing (b) has a further moulded ceiling and moulded fireplace lintol. Many blocked windows with moulded mullions, those on the south side extending the full width of 2 bays. This range has a plain crown-post roof. Both this and the Wealden range have many C16 and C17 doors with good original ironwork. A particularly heavy door into porch chamber with 2 layers of planking. North cross-wing (c) is in 4 bays, the front 3 of mid C16. Ceiling of front bay has dragon beam and very heavy closely-spaced joists with remains of red ochre colouring. Intact first floor studding, queen-post roof. For drawings of frame, mouldings and interior photographs, see Mr T. Easton, Bedfield Hall.

Listing NGR: TM1737163361

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

281505

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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