Late 17th to 18th century outbuilding at land opposite to the Bell Inn, Thorpe-le-Soken (EHER 80397)

A late 17th to 18th century outbuilding that may have served as stable for the nearby Bell Inn.

February 2019. Level 2 building survey. The cartographic evidence shows that a building occupied this site during the later 18th century (1777). The building is however shown on the tithe map of 1842, as part of the land holding of the Bell Inn, and thereafter on Ordnance Survey mapping from the late 19th century through to present day. During this period other buildings within the site have come and gone, but the plan form and footprint of the outbuilding has remained relatively unchanged. Its situation and historic associations with the adjacent Bell Inn strongly suggest an early use as stabling, later, following the development of the motor car during the interwar period, modified into garaging and ultimately storage. The analysis of the built fabric provides a better indication of age and original form. It would appear that the building was constructed using a full timber-frame and may well have extended at least another bay to the south-east. The elevations of this timber frame, up to eaves level, were replaced by the present brickwork, at a point when the building was shortened between the end of the 18th century and the mid 19th century. The roof is a joggled butt purlin roof, and of a type of carpentry which starts to emerge during the early 17th century. It was correctly pegged together, showing evidence of Roman carpenters assembly marks and built using hard wood (oak or elm) with rafters pegged at the apex. Given the character of these features it seems reasonable to conclude that the first iteration of the building was a timber frame, dating to the later 17th to earlier 18th century. <1>