21, 21a and 23, Bury Street

This property comprises two shops (number 21), a flat (number 21A), and a house with a rear wing (number 23), located on Bury Street, Stowmarket. The core of the building dates to the mid-16th century and is timber-framed, although it has a 19th-century painted brick facade and a south gable. The roofs are covered with plain tiles. The windows are largely modern, featuring late 19th-century plate glass in a design with two sets of triple-arched lights. The front doors are 20th century. Three 3/3 sash windows are present on the first floor. The roof has gables of differing pitches, showing the outline of a former property boundary. The north section features an internal gable-end stack shared with number 25, and a gabled dormer window with a 2-light casement. The south section is missing its original stack. The rear of the property incorporates a single-storey outshut with 20th-century windows and a stack, which forms part of number 21A. A cross wing to the rear (number 23) has one storey and a dormer attic. Internally, number 21 retains 16th-century bridging beams with multiple roll mouldings, although the upper floor is not visible. The interior of number 23 was not inspected. Exposed studwork is plastered and whitewashed between the timbers. The front has an early 20th-century door to the left and two renewed canted bay windows which rise through half a storey. There are also three gabled dormers with 2-light casements. A large external gable-end stack is located to the west, and an external wall stack is to the north.