Ruins of Hall of Pleas and South Wall of Great Court

RUINS OF HALL OF PLEAS AND SOUTH WALL OF GREAT COURT, ABBEY PRECINCTS

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
I
List Entry Number:
1375543
Date first listed:
07-Aug-1952
List Entry Name:
Ruins of Hall of Pleas and South Wall of Great Court
Statutory Address:
RUINS OF HALL OF PLEAS AND SOUTH WALL OF GREAT COURT, ABBEY PRECINCTS

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Location

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Archive image, may not represent current condition of site.
Date:
2003-07-30
Reference:
IOE01/09244/19
Rights:
© Mr Luke Barber. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
I
List Entry Number:
1375543
Date first listed:
07-Aug-1952
Date of most recent amendment:
30-Oct-1997
List Entry Name:
Ruins of Hall of Pleas and South Wall of Great Court
Statutory Address 1:
RUINS OF HALL OF PLEAS AND SOUTH WALL OF GREAT COURT, ABBEY PRECINCTS

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
RUINS OF HALL OF PLEAS AND SOUTH WALL OF GREAT COURT, ABBEY PRECINCTS

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:
Suffolk
District:
West Suffolk (District Authority)
Parish:
Bury St. Edmunds
National Grid Reference:
TL8559564177

Details

TL8564SE
639-1/8/102
07/08/52

BURY ST EDMUNDS
ABBEY PRECINCTS
Ruins of Hall of Pleas and south wall of Great Court
(Formerly Listed as:
ABBEY PRECINCTS Abbey Ruins)

GV
I

The surviving part of the south wall of the Great Court of the
Abbey with the remains of the Hall of Pleas on its south side.
Late C12 with C13 additions. In rubble and coursed flint with
dressings of Barnack stone.
The crenellated wall, which stands to full height and is 66
metres long, now forms in part the garden wall on the south
side of Abbey House (qv). It has a keeled string-course and
ashlar-faced stepped buttresses along the north side and a
splayed ashlar-faced section by the north-east corner. The
south face, which formed the north wall of the Hall of Pleas,
has the remains of a row of high blocked windows and a
doorway: its C13 surround is completely replaced on the south
but survives intact on the north: there the pointed arch has
jambs with a continuous multiple moulding and the moulded
hood-mould is surmounted by the head of a bearded man. 20
metres of the east wall of the Hall of Pleas also survive,
standing almost to full height with the remains of flat
buttresses and a wide segmental-arched recess on the west
side.
Scheduled Ancient Monument.
(BOE: Pevsner N: Radcliffe E: Suffolk: London: 1974-: 140).

Listing NGR: TL8559564177

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:
466444
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Suffolk, (1974), 140

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of Ruins of Hall of Pleas and South Wall of Great Court

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 12-Jun-2026 at 21:53:07.

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© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

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.

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