There and Back

This is the second in my series based on listed houses in Hadleigh. This particular post is going to focus on properties in the the short road at the end of the High Street - Bridge Street and Corks Lane. As with my previous Blog posts, the technical description of the property is taken from Historic England or Heritage.Suffolk.Gov sites. Front and side view of No 1 Bridge Street. This property was built around the C17 with red brick front added later. Walking around the side, the surprise is the timbered section, as shown in the above photo. It has two storeys with a three windows format and a tiled roof. Many of the Hadleigh properties have exposed timber structures visible, once you move to the sides and backs - not always possible I am afraid. No 11 / 13 (on the left) and No 15 Bridge Street. This lovely building is a two storey timber framed building and is now plastered. It has cross wings on the northwest and southeast, with projecting upper storeys on the front. Little altered...

John Betjeman once said:   “Hadleigh is one of the most perfect small towns in England, with trees, old red brick, flint and plaster and that unassuming beauty of East Anglia, which changes to glory in sunlight.” There are around 246 listed buildings in Hadleigh, which by any standard is amazing for a small town like ours. This is a photographic record of a few of them, with the `Listing Text` for each building coming from Historic England. Unfortunately large numbers have been refronted, especially in the C18-19, the plaster and brick walls hiding much medieval timber framing. The preservation of so many mediaeval and Tudor buildings is due to the poverty that struck the town after the collapse of the wool trade in the 16th century: the inhabitants could not afford to knock down or renovate in accordance with the fashions of the time. I have restricted each blog entry to the same street, where possible; this first entry being buildings in the High Street. Amazingly, of the 137 bu...