83 And 85, High Street

Nos. 83 and 85 High Street are two houses that were originally built as one significant three-cell open-hall house in the early 15th century. The solar block has been altered and is separately listed under No. 81 High Street. The houses underwent alterations around 1600 and in the mid-19th century. They are two storeys high and feature a timber frame that is encased in 19th-century red brick at the front. The roof is covered with plain tiles and has axial chimneys made of red brick.

The mid-19th-century windows are small-pane sashes with flush frames and flat arches made of gauged brick. The entrance doors, also from the 19th century, are four-panelled with sunk and beaded panels and oblong fanlights. Inside No. 83, there is a large open hall with a wall at the upper end that has tension-braced close studwork and a complete pointed-arched doorway leading into the solar block on the left. The crownpost roof is divided into two unequal bays, featuring a steeply cambered moulded tie-beam with one surviving moulded arch-brace and a long octagonal crownpost with a moulded capital and four-way knee-braces. Each pair of rafter couples has a pair of soulaces (collar-braces), which is a very rare feature in secular buildings in Suffolk, indicating high-quality workmanship.

At the lower end of the hall, there is a damaged spere, and the cross-entry was located within the service end, which is now part of No. 85 (the interior was not examined). A first floor was added to the hall around 1600, with ovolo-moulded joists and channelled main beams. The rear wing of No. 85 features good 18th-century cable-pattern pargetting in panels and has a plain tiled roof with a 17th-century axial chimney made of red brick. This wing is likely a 16th-century addition to the original 15th-century service end.