2, Friars Lane

No. 2 Friars Lane is a pair of cottages that have been combined into one house, dating back to the 18th century, with deeds tracing back to 1760. The structure is timber-framed with roughcast rendering and features 20th-century pantiles and plain bargeboards.

The building stands two storeys tall, with a one-and-a-half storey lean-to at the rear. It has a two-window range and still retains the appearance of two separate cottages. There is an internal chimney stack with a large square red brick shaft. The ground floor has two sash windows with flush frames and two vertical bars in the lights, while the upper storey features two small-paned casement windows with two lights. The entrance includes two late 20th-century eight-panel doors in plain rectangular surrounds.

Inside, the two halves of the house are connected by a single communicating door, and the original layout of the cottages remains largely unchanged. Each half has a corridor leading from the entrance to the kitchen area in the rear lean-to, and a single living room with the staircase located behind it. There is a bedroom above each living room and another bedroom in the lean-to. Each living room has a main ceiling beam that is exposed, featuring a small chamfer and simple stops. A pair of cottages from this period is a rarity in Bury St Edmunds.