The Gables

The Gables is a 17th-century house, likely with an earlier foundation, situated on Ipswich Road, Bramford. It originally comprised three rooms arranged in an H-shaped plan. The house underwent significant alterations in the mid-19th century and the 20th century. It is two storeys high, with attic space in parts. The front facade is timber-framed and encased in painted brickwork dating from the mid-19th century, featuring flat corner pilasters. The roof is plain, covered with red brick, and includes axial and external chimneys. The windows are small-pane sash windows from the mid-19th century, with cambered stone lintels; some are tripartite in design. A four-panelled entrance door, with glazed upper panels and an oblong fanlight, is set within a broad architrave, although the original central doorway has been filled with a sash window. Two-storey rear extensions were added in the 19th century. The central range of the roof incorporates elements from a medieval house, possibly from a structure on the same site, and parts of its original walls may be incorporated into the present house. The parlour in the left cross-wing retains complete early 18th-century fielded panelling, a ceiling cornice, and a six-panelled door.