History in Structure

The Priory Hotel

A Grade II* Listed Building in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

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Coordinates

Latitude: 52.2609 / 52°15'39"N

Longitude: 0.7102 / 0°42'36"E

OS Eastings: 585056

OS Northings: 265991

OS Grid: TL850659

Mapcode National: GBR QDT.6D7

Mapcode Global: VHKD4.8F9M

Plus Code: 9F427P66+93

Entry Name: The Priory Hotel

Listing Date: 7 August 1952

Last Amended: 30 October 1997

Grade: II*

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1022595

English Heritage Legacy ID: 466965

ID on this website: 101022595

Location: West Suffolk, IP32

County: Suffolk

District: West Suffolk

Civil Parish: Bury St Edmunds

Built-Up Area: Bury St Edmunds

Traditional County: Suffolk

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Suffolk

Church of England Parish: Bury St Edmunds St George

Church of England Diocese: St.Edmundsbury and Ipswich

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Description



BURY ST EDMUNDS

TL86NE MILDENHALL ROAD
639-1/13/474 (East side)
07/08/52 The Priory Hotel
(Formerly Listed as:
MILDENHALL ROAD
(East side)
Babwell Friary)

II*

House, now a hotel, on the site of the former Babwell Friary,
a house of Franciscan friars transferred here after 1262. C16,
C17 and C18, possibly with a fragmentary older core. Part
timber-framed and rendered, part flint with brick dressings.
Plaintiled roofs. Complex plan, with the principal range
aligned east-west and with 2 wings extending northwards from
it.
EXTERIOR: part 2 storeys, part 2 storeys and attics. The
principal range is timber-framed and rendered and has a red
brick gable end facing the Mildenhall Road which incorporates
a C16 chimney-stack with 4 detached hexagonal shafts on
moulded bases. In the early C17 the stack was widened and
given shaped gables; quoins to the lower stages are partly of
stone. Just below the chimney shafts a recessed plaster panel
with the remains of a sundial.
The principal front is on the south side. 5 window range: all
12-pane sashes in flush cased frames. The central 6-panel
double entrance door is partly glazed and set in a heavy
Tuscan porch. An internal chimney-stack has 5 attached
hexagonal sawtooth shafts on a low rectangular base. The pitch
of the roof has been made shallower to accommodate a larger
attic storey.
On the east, a 2-storey flat-roofed canted bay was added to
the gable end in the C18: 3 windows, all 12-pane sashes in
flush cased frames; a plain parapet with a moulded stucco
cornice. In the gable above the flat roof a 2-light casement
window and moulded bargeboards with a small lion's head at the
apex.
The wing extending northwards from the east end of the main
range is in 2 sections: part with sash windows in Georgian
style, part on a lower level with a split level mansard roof.
The long wing extending northwards from the west end of the
main range and fronting the Mildenhall Road is in flint with
white brick dressings: externally of the early C19, it is
thought to contain fragments of the Friary buildings, although
none are visible. 6 window range: 12-pane sashes in shallow


reveals. 2 half glazed doors and 4 sash windows to the ground
storey. An internal chimney-stack has 3 hexagonal shafts on
moulded bases similar to those on the gable end stack;
originally it had 4 shafts.
INTERIOR: the east-west range is in 3 bays and was first
divided into 3 heated rooms. Only main beams are visible on
the ground storey, boxed in the east bay. The 2 west bays have
ovolo-moulded trimmers and a main cross-beam which formerly
held a partition, now faced with later boarding. The end stack
on the west has a very wide fireplace with plain stone jambs
and a straight chamfered lintel. The internal stack has 2
back-to-back hearths on each storey, all rendered over to
simulate stone. On the ground storey these have simple
ovolo-moulded segmental-arched openings; on the upper storey
one has a moulded Tudor arch with spandrels. Another upper
fireplace has been 'Georgianised' and has patterned blue Delft
tiles.
Along the north upper wall of this range is a section of close
studding with a blocked 3-light ovolo-moulded mullioned window
and main posts with long jowls. Within the upper room at the
east end the tie-beam of the original end wall is exposed with
an unusual form of folded leaf carving and the central motif
of a pomegranate. Some sash windows on each storey have
panelled internal shutters. An early C19 stair has stick
balusters and a wreathed handrail.
The Babwell Friary remains are a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
(BOE: Pevsner N: Radcliffe E: Suffolk: London: 1974-:
153-154).


Listing NGR: TL8505665991

External Links

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