Description

BATTISFORD CHURCH ROAD
TM 05 SW

5/2 St. John's Manor House
-

- II

Farmhouse, c.1570 with alterations principally of mid C19. Possibly for Dame
Anne, wife of Sir Thomas Gresham, Lord of the Battisford and St. John's Manors
and the founder of the Royal Exchange. Of cross-passage entrance plan, and of
3 conventional cells apart from the inclusion of a kitchen to the north, and a
small earlier rear service wing. 2 storeys and attics. Timber-framed, mainly
encased in mid C19 gault brick, but with plasterwork at rear and side.
Plaintiled roof with two axial chimneys of red brick; the one to right has a
C17 sawtooth shaft; there was formerly at the base a terracotta panel bearing
the Arms of Sir Richard Russell, Master of the Preceptory of the Knights
Hospitallers here in c.1530. Mid C19 windows with flat arches of gauged
brick; sashes with large panes. 4-panelled C19 entrance door with oblong
fanlight at cross-entry position. In the hall are exposed moulded beams and
joists of c.1570, and a C17 lintelled open fireplace. Good close-studding.
Wind-braced butt purlin roof with many rafters reused from a large open hall
of late C13 or early C14: massive well-cut rafters with mortices for collars
and one pair trenched for the ends of passing-braces. Other terracotta panels
in the cellar are probably reset from a feature in brickwork of c.1530 (see
above). The house is built upon the moated site of the Preceptory of the
Knights Hopsitallers founded here in c.1154 and dissolved in 1540. Chancery
Proceedings, temp. Elizabeth I, relate to payment for "repairs" to this house,
which appears in fact to have been virtually rebuilt (apart from the small
wing of early C16 referred to above), for Dame Anne Gresham.

Listing NGR: TM0464354189

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26635178

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

• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)