Abbot'S Hall

Abbot’s Hall is a large house located on Crowe Street in Stowmarket, dating from 1709 with substantial additions made in 1896 and circa 1910. The original section is constructed of brown brick with red brick dressings, and has plain tile roofs.

The original 1709 house is a two-storey building with a dormer attic, arranged in five bays. The central entrance features a four-panelled door within a doorcase topped by a swan-necked pediment with a swag. The windows are sash windows, most dating from the mid-18th century, with irregular 6/6 glazing bars. They are set within gauged skewback arches. The building is embellished with a moulded platband separating the ground and first floors, and a modillion eaves cornice running continuously around the house. The hipped roof is punctuated by five pedimented dormers, two of which have segmentally-pedimented gables, all incorporating sash windows with 6/6 glazing bars. East and west returns originally contained two partly external stacks, gabled back to the roof line, separated by a pedimented dormer. The eastern stack remains, but the western return now has a late 19th-century extension built against it.

The rear (south) elevation mirrors the front, with five bays, two storeys, and a dormer attic featuring alternating pedimented and segmentally-pedimented dormers. The platband on the first floor is more elaborate, and the central first-floor sash window has been enlarged to illuminate the staircase. The sash windows here also have 6/6 glazing bars, exposed boxes, and flush frames. A low-hipped extension to the south-east room (the drawing room) is fitted with plate glass sashes without glazing bars. To the left of this extension, a 20th-century porch extension with a plate-glass window replaces an original door.

The west and south-west extensions were built in two phases, in 1896 and circa 1910. The first was a single-storey structure, followed by a second storey and an additional two-bay wing to the rear. The details of these extensions – sashes, platband, modillion eaves cornice, and pedimented dormers – all match the original building.

The interior includes an entrance hall with a late 19th-century fireplace within a reeded timber surround. A notable staircase, likely dating from the original 1709 construction, is located to the rear of the hall. The open string features scrolled tread ends, with two twisted balusters to each tread and clustered balusters around the newels. Here, each baluster alternates in pitch of twist. The staircase also has a moulded handrail and large-framed dado panelling. The south-east drawing room contains a very late 19th-century marble fireplace and a modillion cornice.