The Gardeners Arms Public House

The Gardeners Arms Public House is a public house dating from around 1600, with a core that dates back to the late 14th century. It has two storeys and features a three-cell cross-entry plan, with the late 14th-century parlour cell on the right designed in a cross-wing form. The building is timber-framed and roughcast, topped with a plaintiled roof that is hipped at the left end. There is an axial chimney, which has been rebuilt in 20th-century red brick. The windows are late 19th-century or early 20th-century small-pane casements, and there is a mid-20th-century glazed panelled door at the cross-entry position, along with a 19th-century half-glazed four-panelled door leading to the parlour on the right.

Inside, the two-bay cross-wing reveals plain late 14th-century framing at the first storey, with walls featuring widely spaced studding and arch windbraces. A partition truss retains a fragment of a crownpost roof, with long cranked rising braces extending from the tiebeam. Although much of the building has been rebuilt in the 20th century, the roof retains collars that are mortised into the rafters, a feature that is not typically found in Suffolk after 1400. The westernmost bay shows signs of smoke-encrustation, indicating that an open hall existed here until it was partially demolished around 1600. The later section includes a two-bay hall and service cell, showcasing close-studding with evidence of a diamond-mullioned window and a clasped purlin roof. In the bar area, early 17th-century framing is exposed, characterized by close-studding and chamfered ceiling joists laid flat. A wide lintelled 17th-century open fireplace features jambs made from reused limestone blocks, likely sourced from the Abbey of St Edmundsbury or another medieval building.