Clare Priory

Clare Priory, founded in 1248 by Richard de Clare, Earl of Clare, Gloucester and Hereford, began as a Friary for the Friars Eremites of St Augustine, associated with the Abbey of Bec in Normandy. It underwent several transformations throughout its history, serving as a cell to St Peter's Westminster in 1326, a college in 1490, and later being converted into a dwelling house by Sir Thomas Barnardiston in 1604, as evidenced by initials and a date carved into a panel within an upstairs room.

The building is timber-framed and plastered, featuring a 14th-century stone font to the west. It has heavy buttresses and a pointed arched 14th-century doorway, complete with an old door and an ogee-headed wicket. The house extends over two storeys with attics. Windows are multi-light, incorporating both mullioned and transomed designs, alongside mullioned windows with arched lights, all featuring leaded lights. The east front is characterized by gabled wings at the north and south ends, with three smaller gabled wings situated between them. Most windows are three-light casements with segmental arched heads and leaded lights, although some retain the mullioned and transomed style with leaded lights. The tiled roof is punctuated by four large gabled dormers on the west front, each containing a five-light casement window with leaded lights, and several octagonal chimney stacks.

At the rear entrance, an early traceried window can be found alongside an old door. Inside this space is a groin vaulted ceiling, which is a remnant of the original cloisters. The priory includes a fine 17th-century panelled room with an arcaded overmantle. The Barker family owned the property in the 18th and 19th centuries, and their arms are represented in stained glass set within one of the mullioned and transomed windows. The hall showcases fine late 15th-century carved ceiling beams, and a portion of a 14th-century staircase remains. A substantial 18th-century room is situated at the rear, built into the original priory walls. This room has stone-dressed mullioned and transomed windows with leaded lights, and a tiled, ogee shaped roof topped with a ball finial.