The Elms

The Elms is a former farmhouse dating back to the 14th century, with significant alterations in the 15th and late 16th centuries. It is a building of group value. The house is part 1½ storey, part 2 storeys, and has attics. The construction is timber-framed and rendered, with a clay pantile roof. A distinctive red brick chimney stack rises between the different sections of the house, featuring four attached square shafts set diagonally on a rectangular base. Three diamond-mullioned windows are visible on the front elevation; the remaining windows are 19th-century casements, some with transoms. A plank door provides access to the interior.

The lower range contains a reinstated 2-bay open hall dating back to the 14th century, originally aisled. In the 15th century, this was altered by raising the aisle and realigning the outer walls, along with the insertion of a heavy cambered tie-beam below the cut-off ends of the arcade posts. This tie-beam has solid arched braces meeting at the center, with hollow-chamfer mouldings on the soffits. The octagonal arcade posts have been cut off just below their moulded capitals and are braced to an upper tie-beam, the arcade plates, and linked to the wall-plates by sloping side ties. A second, rough tie-beam is located beside the upper tie, likely a later addition.

In the rear wall of the west bay, fragments of the diamond mullions of a 6-light hall window remain, suggesting that this end of the house served as the solar end. This section was largely reconstructed as a service room in the 16th century. However, the ground floor ceiling, featuring a blocked stair-trap, and a complete 4-light diamond-mullioned window in the gable appear to be original features. A chimney stack was inserted into the lower end of the hall, likely during the addition of a typical late 16th century 2½-bay parlour wing, which replaced the original service end. This addition includes close studding, chamfered joists, and a main beam with curved stops on the ground floor, along with original upper ceilings in a matching style. A T-shaped window was originally present on the ground floor gable wall; the short 4-light side windows are the only remaining parts. Further mullioned windows with hollow-chamfer are found on the upper floor. The roof features two rows of unstepped butt purlins and cambered collars. This is considered the oldest house in the South Elmham parishes.