Description

CODDENHAM LOWER ROAD
TM 15 NW
5/29 Choppins Hill House
(formerly listed as
9-12-55 Choppins Hill Farmhouse)
GV I

House. Late C14. The standard of carpentry is high, and the use of fully-
developed close-studding is rare in a demonstrably C14 building. The two-bay
hall ahs contemporary 2-storey gabled cross-wings at either end. Timber-framed
and platered; the solar wing to left has a jettied upper floor on thick knees.
The service wing was also jettied formerly. Plaintiled roofs; an axial chimney
of red brick in the hall range; and external chimneys to both cross-wings.
The hall range has hipped plaintiled C20 casement dormers. Early C20 casements
with leaded lights. Boarded and battened entrance door. The open truss in
the centre of the hall is constructed as follows:- A chambered, formerly knee-
braced, beam spans the building above head level. It supports a pair of arcade
posts, from which rise curved arcade braces up to square-sectioned arcade
plates. The posts are linked at mid-height to the aisle wall plates by short
tie-beams, beneath which is (on one side) a pair of knees forming a 2-centred
arach. The cambered main tie-beam has lost its braces but bears a short
octagonal crownpost, moulded and with thick braces in the C14 manner. The
twin service doorways are ogee-headed and hood-moulded, and enriched by carved
fleurons. The blocked front cross-entry doorway is massive and has a 2-centred
arched head. The dais beam at the upper end of the hall is embattled and has
painted applied lead flowers; the adjacent blocked ogee-headed doorway was
formerly screened from the dais by a spur. Both cross-wings have complete
roofs with moulded octagonal crownposts; the solar wing has a further bay at
the rear, with an original staircase tower. Studwork throughout is very closely
spaced and windbracing is absent from internal faces. Fine splayed and tabled
scarf joints with undersquinted and sallied butts. Circa 1600, a large central
chimney and an upper floor were inserted into the hall; of this date is an
ovolo-mullioned window in the hall and a small wing with newel stair. The
tenement may have been held in the C14 by the Augustinian Priory of Royston;
in 1408 it was known as Thedeward's, and he or a prveious tenant may have been
the builder, funded by the Priory. Francis Chappine acquired the property
in 1609, whnce derived its present name. An exceptionally fine example of
a late C14 raised-aisled hall house, and possibly the most complete of the
East Suffolk group.

Listing NGR: TM1376255423

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17526394

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

• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)