Ford Place and Attached Grotto is a Grade II listed building in the Breckland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 3 April 1951. House. 9 related planning applications.

Ford Place and Attached Grotto

WRENN ID
late-chancel-ivy
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Breckland
Constituency
South West Norfolk MP: Terry Jermy (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
3 April 1951
Type
House
Address
Ford Place and Attached Grotto, Ford Street, Thetford, IP24 2EP
OS grid reference
TL 874 826
Coordinates
52.40989, 0.75421
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Ford Place is a house that has been converted into a residential home for the elderly. It was built in the early 19th century, with some additions made around 1860. The building is constructed of gault brick and features roofs made of black-glazed pantiles. The layout is a double-pile plan, and the house stands 2 to 3 storeys tall.

The north facade is irregular and consists of three distinct sections, each with different roof lines. The eastern part has a double-leaf glazed door set within a doorcase that features engaged reeded and fluted Ionic columns supporting a dentilled pediment. To the left of this door is a first-floor staircase window with 6/6 glazing bars and a rounded head. The windows throughout the building are generally 6/6 sashes with gauged skewback arches. The roofs are a mix of gabled and hipped styles, with multiple chimney stacks.

The south front displays a balanced asymmetry with two hipped elements that project forward on the right and left sides. The right element features a full-height canted bay, while the left has two hipped through-eaves dormers, likely added around 1860. Attached to the house on the west side is a single-storey grotto made of whole flints, which has three bays. This grotto includes a central pointed doorway flanked by pointed Y-tracery windows on either side.

Inside, the staircase dates from the mid-19th century and features two twisted balusters per tread along with a moulded handrail. The main rooms are adorned with dentil cornices and marble fireplaces, and the doors are six-panelled.

Local climate

Ford Place and Attached Grotto sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 99% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 62% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • Sale history — 1 transaction since 2016
  • Related listed building consents — 9 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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