Old School House

The Old School House is a house dating from the late 16th century, with alterations made in the early 17th century and later. Originally designed with a two-cell end-chimney plan, the layout was changed in the 17th century to a three-cell lobby-entrance form. The building has two storeys and is constructed from timber framing with plaster, featuring cable-pattern pargetting that was restored in the 20th century. It has a thatched roof, hipped at the left end, and an axial chimney made of red brick. The windows are mainly 20th-century casements, and the entrance door is a boarded and battened design from the 20th century, sheltered by a lean-to porch with a pantiled roof supported by posts.

The original 16th-century structure includes studwork with both arch and tension-bracing, along with a coupled-rafter roof. A chimney was added in the cross-entry during the 17th century, and the service cell on the left was given a new upper floor, which features an ovolo-moulded binding joist, transforming it into a new parlour. Above the fireplace in the parlour is a mid or late 18th-century painting of a hunting scene, painted directly onto the plaster, which covers a deep 17th-century painted frieze of chevrons. It is believed that there are other sections of painted decoration that are now concealed.

The service cell on the right is higher and exhibits craftsmanship from the 18th century, though it may contain an earlier core. There is a single-storey service wing made of brick with a glazed pantiled roof located at the front right, primarily built in the early 19th century but with an earlier timber-framed core. In 1612, the Reverend John Metcalf, the rector of the parish, bequeathed this house, then known as Smiths, for use by a schoolmaster to teach the youth of Stonham and Pettaugh freely.