Richard Hoggett Heritage unpublished report series

Historic building recording at Pond Hall Farm, Hadleigh, was undertaken in June 2017 prior to the residential conversion of two agricultural buildings and the demolition of later buildings. The survey found the dramatic fire which destroyed the farmyard in 1934 did not totally eradicate all traces of earlier buildings. A substantial proportion of the fabric of both the main west-east barn and the former stable to its south-east are likely to be of 16th-century origin, albeit with considerable later alterations and additions. Before the fire, the main barn was a tall brick structure with a steep, thatched roof, two pairs of large brick archways and ventilation slits with arched interiors. Although the entire roof structure was lost and the gables subsequently rebuilt, it would seem that the majority of the barn's northern, eastern and western elevations comprise original brickwork, complete with intact (albeit blocked) ventilation slits. Fragments of original fabric also survive in the southern elevation, although most of this wall was rebuilt following the fire. It seems likely that the stable is slightly later than the main barn and began as a single-storey three-celled building with a hayloft. Later, this was raised to two storeys and extended in two directions. Despite these changes, a stretch of brick walling with an ornate brick buttress, which is partly incorporated into the northern elevation of the stable, is a remarkable survival. This wall is likely to be contemporary with the barn and is among the more notable features on the site.

The Conservation Plan includes a simple summary of the project area, its setting and history based on the Heritage Assessment. It provides an assessment of the heritage significance of the overall project area and each of the 15 sub-areas into which it has been divided. Part I of the Conservation Plan also explores the issues and opportunities associated with the site and articulates a Conservation Framework for its ongoing care and enhancement. Part II of the Conservation Plan provides a basis for the Heritage Partnership to develop proposals for the project area to realise their vision for the Abbey of St Edmund.

A Level 2 survey demonstrated that Thorne Roughets is a timber-framed lobby-entrance house of probable 18th-century origin. The building originally comprised two rooms, either side of the lobby, and was open to the rafters. The roof was thatched and the narrow central bay contained a chimney stack. In the later 18th century, a first floor was inserted (possibly replacing an earlier floor) and staircase created between the lobby and the chimney. At some point before the 19th century the gable walls were rendered and decorated. Map evidence and structural analyses indicate the house was extended in the 19th century, when a lean-to was built along the rear of the property and a two-storey extension with different roof-line built to the north. The northern extension saw openings cut though the northern gable wall of the house at ground and first-floor levels. The original thatched roof was also exchanged for slates at this point. The house was further altered during the later 20th century, with the erection of a breeze-block extension to the north-east and the creation of a southern-lean to extension. The porch appears to have been added during this period, and the kitchen extended eastwards. All of these building projects appear to have occurred within a relatively short time-frame and coincided with an orchestrated attempt to create mock-timber framing within the existing building to complement those elements of the frame which are still visible.

A Level I photographic survey was undertaken of the property, which was originally constructed as two cottages and amalgamated into one in the mid-20th century, prior to its renovation. The current work to separate the two cottages again has resulted in the stripping out of many of these more recent alterations, allowing the original layout and proportions of the cottages to be appreciated. Of particular interest are the traces of the timber studwork supporting the western gable end which have been revealed in the former kitchen. While the cottages retain their original upstairs fireplaces, the downstairs fireplaces and much of the rest of the interior have been greatly affected by the 20th-century use of the property, and few original features otherwise remain.