Yeomans Farmhouse

Yeoman’s Farmhouse, formerly known as ‘The Firs’, is a former farmhouse dating to the mid-17th century with later alterations in the late 17th century. It has a complex form and is situated on the Halesworth Road in Ilketshall St. Lawrence. The farmhouse is partly timber-framed and partly brick, with a rendered finish, and has a clay pantile roof. A prominent internal chimney stack features a plain, partly rebuilt, red brick shaft with a moulded base. A small, original three-light window with ovolo-moulded mullions and narrow intermediate bars is located in the gable-end of the front range, while a reinstated four-light diamond-mullioned window is in the middle range; the remaining windows are more recent casements. A 20th-century panelled door provides access. The central range, aligned roughly north-south, represents the oldest part of the house, featuring a two-cell end-chimney plan with an unusual division into a single one-bay service room and a three-bay hall, repeated on the first floor. Exposed plain ceiling-beams and unchamfered joists are visible on both floors. The ground floor has main beams with small supporting arched braces, and the upper floor shows remains of larger arched braces. Diamond-mullioned windows are present on both floors, one retaining its original mullions. The roof has undergone alterations and features two rows of unstepped butt purlins and wind braces. A small, two-storey timber-framed range extends northeastwards. A formerly dated brick range, set at a right angle to the central section, is distinguished by high, corbelled gable copings and has three bays. The ground floor was likely divided into two rooms, while the upper floor was consistently a single apartment; joists are set on edge. The roof of this range has straight wind braces halved against the back of the purlins, two rows of unstepped butt purlins, full principal rafters, and high collars. The chimney stack connecting the two ranges is constructed of large, late 17th-century bricks with thick mortar joints and was likely rebuilt when the front range was added. A modern extension is attached to the south end.