Description

BURY ST EDMUNDS

TL8564SW ABBEYGATE STREET
639-1/14/137 (North side)
12/07/72 Nos.28 AND 28A

GV II*

2 shops with storage rooms above, formerly a house and shop.
Early C16 and early C17. Timber-framed and roughcast; twin
gables to street with plain late C20 bargeboards; plaintiles.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys and cellar to front; 3 storeys and attic
to rear. 2 windows to both upper storeys: sashes with a single
vertical glazing-bar to lights in cased frames. 2 C20 shop
fronts.
INTERIOR: cellar not readily accessible. Shop interiors fully
modernised. The upper storeys are all approached from No.28A.
The building consists of 2 parallel ranges at right angles to
the street, each with 2 rooms to a storey and an internal
chimney-stack. Each of the first storey front rooms had an
oriel window flanked by smaller side windows which still
retain moulded mullions. Recent stripping of wallpaper has
uncovered extensive remains of early C17 painted decoration in
both 1st storey front rooms and the front attic room which
originally covered the whole walls.
On the 1st storey, there are only the main components of the
frame along the east wall, with tension braces and a central
post with arched braces; the decoration covers all these
timbers, as well as the wall behind them, which is the outer
surface of the west wall of No.29. The motifs in each room are
similar but not identical, with intersecting repetitive
strapwork-type designs containing formalised flowers and
foliage. In the east room, fragments of a frieze with a large
leaf pattern. The colours are mainly green, red and white on a
black background and are still very strong, probably because
they were covered at an early stage. In the west room the
remains of a late C17 plaster frieze with raised ornate
panels, which was laid over the paintings, indicates that
there was a fairly rapid change in the style of decoration
there.
To the rear of the east chimney-stack is a small much altered
room. To the rear of the western stack is a small room with an
unusual heavily-moulded late C15/early C16 ceiling in which
the main cross-beams are set diagonally; the plaster between
has added decoration of c1600 with Tudor roses and acanthus
leaves in relief. On the top storey, some exposed studding and
a braced central post which supports the valley of the front
gables. Both halves of the attic formed one large room which

is also decorated, in a similar but rougher style than in the
2 rooms below, with designs in black and white on a pink
background, more fragmentary than on the 1st storey.
In the eastern half, a small brick fireplace with rounded back
and timber lintel has the remains of old render over the
bricks, coloured pink and lined to simulate stone. Below the
pink colouring is an older grey surface with the bricks penny
struck. In the western half, an early C19 raised cast-iron
grate with fluted decoration was inserted when the attic was
divided into 2 rooms. The rear attic on the west has a
tie-beam cut to allow access, and the ceiling of the top
storey room, which is a later insertion, is set below
wallplate level in the attic, leaving a short section of heavy
studding visible along the side walls. Crown-post roof, the
post within the partition wall braced to the collar-purlin;
collars and rafters concealed. A small-paned sash window is
set above the tie-beam in the rear gable, and in the soffit
below the tie-beam is the rebate for an original window.

Listing NGR: TL8546864236

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17545673

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House