Crinkle-Crankle wall west of Ardley House

A vernacular crinkle-crankle wall enclosing two sides of a garden, likely to have been built in the 1840s.

MATERIALS

The wall is constructed of Suffolk red bricks laid in stretcher bond, with a double-layer of plain clay tiles laid beneath the uppermost course.

PLAN

L-shaped in plan, the wall runs along two sides of a garden boundary.

EXTERIOR

The longest section of wall runs approximately west-east along ten undulating bays. A shorter section runs perpendicularly north from the west end for three bays and connects to an outbuilding.

Most of the wall stands on a plinth two bricks' wide laid in courses without a formal bond. It has an average height of six feet, rising to eight at the west end where the ground level is lower. The top of the wall is capped by a single course of stretcher-bond brick beneath which is a double-layer of plain clay tiles providing some weather protection.

The brickwork has collapsed in two bays of the long south elevation. Elsewhere the wall shows signs of past repair where replacement bricks have been used, or where cementitious mortars can be seen in contrast with the original lime pointing. The west elevation includes a recently bricked-in gateway formerly providing access to a farm track.