Description

BURY ST EDMUNDS

TL8564SW CHURCHGATE STREET
639-1/14/258 (South side)
12/07/72 Nos.55 AND 56

GV II

House, divided into 2. Early-to-mid C16 with extensions of
c1700 and an early C19 front. Timber-framed and plastered with
traces of lining; C20 plaintiles to front slope of roof, clay
pantiles to rear.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and attics; basic 3-cell plan. A jetty
along the street frontage is now underbuilt, leaving a minimal
overhang. 3 internal chimneys, 2 in the rear slope of the
roof, all with plain red brick shafts. 4 window range: all
16-pane sashes in cased and moulded flush frames. 3
flat-headed lead-covered dormers, 2 to No.55 with 6-pane
sashes, one to No.56 with a C20 casement window. 2 matching
door surrounds with plain reveals and architraves; a moulded
cornice below the jetty. A 6-panel door to No.55 with raised
fielded panels, and a 6-panel door with sunk panels and
moulded surrounds to No.56. Both have plain rectangular
fanlights.
INTERIOR: No.55 has a Georgianised interior with only one
exposed main beam on the ground storey. It seems likely to
contain the service area and hall of the original house with a
cross-entry between them. No.56 contains a single bay of the
front range, apparently the parlour, with a fine exposed
timber ceiling to the ground storey room. The main beam has a
double roll-moulding and the joists a smaller single roll,
both with cut-off stops. The original line of the jetty is
indicated by the bressumer which has a face-halved and bladed
scarf and empty mortices for studs.
The ceiling timbers are hidden by plaster near the west wall
of the room and the junction with No.57 (qv) is not entirely
clear. At the rear there is a slight overlap between the 2
properties. The timber rear addition of c1700 is linked to the
front by a small chimney-stack with a bolection-moulded
fireplace surround.
In the room above the parlour a section of square Jacobean
panelling has been made into a cupboard door with H-hinges and
a cast-iron Victorian grate has unusual floral decoration.

Listing NGR: TL8537264031

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26540446

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, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)