The Gardeners Arms Public House

TL 96 SE 5/165

TOSTOCK THE GREEN The Gardeners Arms Public House

II

Public house, c.1600 with core of late C14. 2 storeys. 3-cell cross-entry plan, (the C14 parlour cell to right is of cross-wing form). Timber-framed and roughcast. Plaintiled roof (hipped at left hand end). An axial chimney, the shaft rebuilt in C20 red brick. Late C19 or early C20 small-pane casements. Mid C20 glazed panelled door at cross-entry position: a C19 half- glazed 4-panelled door in the parlour to right. Interior: The 2-bay cross-wing has plain late C14 framing exposed at 1st storey. Walls have widely-spaced studding with arch windbraces. A partition truss retains a fragment of crownpost roof, with long cranked rising braces up from the tiebeam. Although much rebuilt in C20, the roof has collars mortised into the rafters, not halved: a feature not normally found after 1400 in Suffolk. The westernmost bay has smoke-encrustation, suggesting that an open hall existed here until partially demolished c.1600. The later section has a 2-bay hall and service cell: close-studding with diamond-mullioned window evidence, and clasped purlin roof. In the bar, early C17 framing is exposed: close-studding and chamfered ceiling joists laid flat. A wide lintelled C17 open fireplace has jambs of reused limestone blocks; these are probably from the Abbey of St Edmundsbury or another medieval building.

Listing NGR: TL9557063643