Gate House

Gate House is a house dated 1613, located on Norwich Road in Ditchingham. It features red brick that encases a timber frame and has a steep plain-tiled roof. The building has an L-shaped plan with two and a half storeys and a three-bay wing to the north, which is two storeys high. The north wing has 19th-century casement windows with two and three lights, and ovolo-moulded details. There are three plain brick pilasters, and the ground floor windows in the outer bays have stone or stuccoed pediments with flower bosses. The central doorway is flanked by two-light segmental-headed windows and has a later porch. An off-centre square axial stack to the south has four moulded chimney-shaft bases, and the north gable is parapeted with an internal stack.

At the south end, the crosswing has a six-light window on the ground floor, a five-light window on the first floor, and a three-light attic window, all featuring ovolo-moulded mullions and transoms, with pediments decorated with rose and fleur-de-lis motifs. The gable displays the date 1613 in iron letters, along with the initials RH 1918, marking a remodelling by Sir Henry Rider Haggard. There is also a two-storey red brick and pantile extension on the west side, which includes a single-storey lean-to. The west wall of the main range is rendered and colourwashed over the timber frame and has three first-floor three-light casements.

Inside, the bridging beams and mid-wall rails are quadrant-moulded with barred stops. The roof of the crosswing features clasped upper and butted lower purlins with cambered collars. The main range was re-roofed in the early 20th century but retains some members of the original clasped purlin roof.