62a-64 Friars Street, Sudbury

62a-64 Friars Street, Sudbury

Two rendered timber-framed cottages with tiled gable roofs, possibly originally a 15th-century hall house with cross wing, later subdivided from the 17th century onwards.

No. 64 comprises two storeys with an attic. A small central dormer beneath a gablet and a jetty feature at the façade. Pairs of timber mullion and transom windows light both ground and first floors, with a 20th-century entrance door to the right. 19th and 20th-century extensions obscure the rear elevation. A tall 19th-century chimney rises from the rear pitch; a small dormer window lights the attic stairs. The east and west elevations are hidden by adjacent properties.

No. 62 has two storeys in the main range; no. 62a and the cross wing have three storeys. Both have 20th-century entrance doors with simple door cases and mostly 20th-century windows, though the former milliners shop retains an 18th-century shop front. The projecting cross-wing at the west end has a jetty to the front and inserted 20th-century fenestration to the rear. Both dwellings have been extended and altered at the rear.

The interior of No. 64 retains 15th-century cross frames to left and right (the latter shared with No. 62) with mid-rail and close studwork on ground and first floors. The front wall frame and jetty plate are exposed at ground level. An axial bridging beam of substantial scantling with roll moulding and stops features bolted, carved brackets at both ends; its size and detailing suggest it is earlier than the ceiling and may be reused from another structure. Fireplaces occupy the rear, one incorporating 18th-century brickwork. On the first floor the tie beam, studs and arched braces of the cross frame are visible, along with an inserted 17th-century ceiling. The attic contains the right-hand cross frame with light scantling studs, probably 17th-century, though remaining wall and cross framing is plastered over. Wide floorboards survive. The roof is a simple pegged common coupled rafter structure with collars and purlins.

No. 62 retains most of a 15th-century timber frame with some evidence of reuse. The principal ground-floor room features an inglenook with an intricately carved cambered bresummer, most likely 15th-century and probably reused from a higher-status building. The front wall frame has been replaced, but the close-studded cross frame with mid-rail (fitted with iron straps) and a chamfered transverse bridging beam remain visible. A 17th-century battened door with applied fillets leads to the rear, remodelled in the 19th century. The cross wing has front and rear rooms with close-studded wall and cross frames featuring sole plates and mid-rails, with inserted ceilings of bridging beams and joists. The wall plate, tie beams and studs of the rear wall frame of the main range appear at first-floor level in the remodelled stairwell and principal bedroom. Although the front wall frame was replaced at ground-floor level, it survives above at first-floor level. The roof truss at the rear of the cross wing has been remodelled and most wall framing is plastered over, though the tie beam is exposed. The attic storey of the cross wing is accessed through a 17th-century plank door with false panelling featuring a central moulded muntin and contemporary strap hinges. Purlins and collars of the cross wing roof are exposed in the attic. The roof over the main range comprises pegged common coupled rafters with collars.

No. 62a was not inspected.