Elton House

Elton House is a shop and house located on Hawksmill Street in Needham Market. The roof is dated 1621, as carved on a purlin, but the core of the building may date back to the 16th century. There was significant remodeling in the mid-19th century. The building has two storeys, with an attic, and is timber-framed. The upper storey is roughcast, while the lower storey is encased in painted brick from the 19th century. Both ranges of the building used to jetty out towards the street on two sides at the first floor level, with the jetties supported by posts at the corners of High Street, Hawksmill Street, and King William Street. The roofs are plaintiled and feature 19th-century undulating bargeboards and a spike finial. There are axial chimneys made of red brick and mainly mid-19th-century small-pane sash windows. The entrance door to Elton House is a four-panelled door from the 19th century, complete with an oblong fanlight and a gabled canopy that has undulating bargeboards. The shop windows and glazed entrance door date from the late 19th or early 20th century. Above the shop, the roof has two tiers of butt purlins and square cambered collars, with one purlin featuring the well-carved date of 1621, indicating the date of construction. However, some exposed carpentry within the building suggests that there may be a 16th-century core.