Number 9 Dolphin House And Numbers 11-15

Number 9 Dolphin House and Numbers 11-15 are located on the south side of Mendlesham Front Street. Originally one or two dwellings, they have been converted into four. This long range building dates from the 16th century and features an early 17th-century two-cell cross-wing that projects to the left. The structure is timber framed and plastered, with the main range showcasing much old panelled plasterwork and pargetted infilling. It has a plaintiled roof and original carved console brackets at the foot of the gable of the wing.

The building is two storeys high, with attics in the cross-wing. The main range jetties out towards the street and includes various casement windows, some of which are old, with two first-floor windows featuring diamond and square-leaded panes. Numbers 11 and 13 primarily have mid-20th-century windows, with Number 11 having a canted ground floor bay. The gable end of the wing (Number 9) has a six-panel raised and fielded door with a blocked narrow segmental fanlight above it, flanked by two sash windows with glazing bars. Above the doorway is a frieze and dentil cornice, with brackets on either side.

Number 11 has a boarded door, while Number 13 features a 16th to 17th-century plank door, and Number 15 has a plank door as well. The main range has two internal stacks with rendered shafts, and the cross-wing has an internal stack with a red brick shaft. Inside, the cross-wing is well-preserved, with concealed studding and joists, ovolo floorbeams in the ceilings of the lower rooms, and a roof supported by two tiers of butt purlins and one-way curved wind bracing. There is an oak newel stair with original doors leading to the upper flight and to a cupboard under the lower flight. The roof over the left end of the main range (part of Number 9) has been reconstructed later. The interiors of Numbers 11-15 have not been examined.