The Chantry

The Chantry is a house located on White Hart Street in Thetford, likely built in the early 17th century and remodeled in the late 17th century, with the rear rebuilt in the early 19th century. The facade is rendered and colorwashed brick over a timber frame, while the rear is constructed of gault brick. Some clunch is used in the interior walls. The building has plain tiled roofs, with pantiles at the rear, and consists of two storeys and a dormer attic across seven bays. The facade is symmetrical, featuring a central three-bay recess with outer bays under gables.

The central entrance has a six-panelled and fielded door beneath a late 18th-century reticulated fret overlight. An open segmental hood is supported by double consoles and engaged fluted columns. To the left of the elevation is a flush six-panelled door, likely replacing a window. The windows are unhorned sashes set within flush frames and exposed boxes, featuring 6/6 glazing bars. A projecting cornice runs below the parapet, which has gabled ends with sashes, although the left (north) one is a replacement. Between the gables is a gabled dormer with a 20th-century two-light casement. The house has an internal gable-end stack on the south side and two ridge stacks. There are two rear projections with hipped pantile roofs, each consisting of two bays.

Inside, the entrance hall features a very late 17th-century open-string staircase with two twisted balusters per tread and four grouped balusters as newels, along with a moulded ramped handrail. The hall also has large-frame dado panelling. The balustrade returns at the first floor to form a balcony. The ground-floor rear room contains early 17th-century small-frame panelling. The main timber frame has jowled principal studs, although much of it has been removed. The two southern bays retain arched braces to chamfered tie beams.