41, 42 AND 43, CROWN STREET

A terrace of three houses situated in Crown Street, Bury St Edmunds, with a core dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, extensively heightened and refaced in the early to mid-19th century. The construction combines timber-framing with a white brick facade and slate roofs.

The front of the terrace presents three storeys and cellars, with a four-window range. Nos. 41 and 42 feature 16-pane sashes on the ground and first floors, while No. 43 has 8-pane sashes to the top storey and single vertical glazing-bar sashes elsewhere. Stucco cornices and stub brackets adorn the doors and windows. Each house has a four-panelled door set in a plain reveal, accompanied by a plain rectangular fanlight. A smaller, older two-storey section of the building projects from the rear of No. 41, featuring a plain tiled roof and likely originally jettied. This section has 12-pane sash windows in flush cased frames to the upper storey and an Edwardian canted bay window to the ground floor. A 19th-century single-storey rear wing, constructed of brick and weatherboarding, is also present.

The cellar beneath No. 41 reveals walling constructed of flint, brick and re-used stone, with a timber ceiling. Remnants of timber-framing remain on the ground and first floors, including a chamfered main beam in the front room and a large cross-beam in the rear room with run-out stops. Two corner fireplaces have been introduced; the one in the rear room boasts a fine 16th-century roll-moulded lintel, thought to have been moved from elsewhere in the building. On the upper storey, a section of exposed studding is visible. A staircase features turned balusters, a closed string, moulded handrails and square newels. Several good early 19th-century raised grates are also present.

Inside No. 42, the main 16th-century cross-beams of the ceiling are exposed, showcasing a double roll-moulding that extends across the beam in the south wall. This room is particularly deep and may originally have been jettied along the street frontage. A subsequent 19th-century remodelling divided the room into two with an inserted chimney-stack. A ledge on the first storey indicates the line of the earlier wallplate. A 17th-century one-and-a-half-storey rear wing extends between Nos. 42 and 43. No. 43 has a 19th-century internal layout consistent with No. 42, lacking evidence of earlier fabric. The building occupies an older site and possesses a particularly fine cellar, lined with stone blocks; an archway running below the pavement is faced with Tudor brick.