2, Kings Road, Bury St. Edmunds, West Suffolk, Suffolk, IP33 (Grade II)

BURY ST EDMUNDS

TL8564SW KING’S ROAD 639-1/7/460 (South side) No.2

House. Early C17. Timber-framed and rendered; faced in white brick; C20 plaintiled roof with pierced and fluted bargeboards to the north gable. Two 2-storey rear wings, one on the south east, rendered, the other, infilling the angle between the south-east wing and the front, with walls in a mixture of flint and old red brick. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and attics. One window to each storey on the front: a sash with a single vertical glazing bar in a flush cased frame to the upper storey and a tripartite Edwardian canted bay with sash windows to the ground storey. A recessed entrance door in a wood doorcase with panelled reveals, pilasters and cornice which match those of No.1 (qv) adjoining. An internal chimney-stack, formerly on the gable end but now shared with the adjoining house, has a large plain rectangular shaft with corbelled head. INTERIOR: C17 cellar below the front range, with walls of brick and flint and many reused stone blocks, has a series of wide rounded niches in the walls and an original timber ceiling with joists set on edge. Front range in 2 bays: empty mortices in the main beam show that it was initially divided into 2 rooms, but the layout was altered in the early C19 with a stair inserted in the northern bay, possibly replacing an earlier stair within this bay. On the 1st storey there was originally one 2-bay room. The chimney-stack was originally set externally on the south gable wall. It has the remains of a fine hearth on each storey: on the ground storey, the rounded sides of the fireplace were damaged by later alterations, including the insertion of a bake-oven. The brick jambs are ovolo- moulded and the whole surround was originally rendered over the brick. The plain timber lintel is keyed for plaster. The smaller fireplace on the 1st storey is still complete with a rounded back, ovolo-moulded jambs and very marked traces of original red ochre colouring and lining on the brickwork. In the attics very substantial main timbers are exposed. The attic floor is set below wallplate level with the main supporting timbers morticed into the sides of the main posts rather than linking their tops (cf. No.40, Crown Street, qv). The narrow south-east wing is contemporary, or near-contemporary with the front and has one original 3-light

window with ovolo-moulded mullions and small vertical bars. 2 other similar windows, found during recent restoration, have been resited along the former rear wall of the front range. The north-east wing was added in the late C18 or early C19 and contains a number of reused timbers.