Bardwell

Pictures of buildings mentioned in the second edition “Suffolk” volume of “The Buildings of England” series by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner.

The second edition of Pevsner only has the church, Bardwell Hall and a derelict windmill. I visited Bardwell to find the former guildhall which is now listed in the third edition (Suffolk West). Its omission by Pevsner was surprising as Bardwell is one of the most well documented Guilds in East Anglia. So we start with that:
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Bardwell Hall is most interesting although the footnote on page 83 of the second edition Pevsner from P. G. M. Dickinson rather deprecatingly suggests heavy restoration with old materials at some stage. However it is listed as Grade II* and has a barn listed as Grade II in its own right. It is potentially one of Suffolk’s great houses but in 2011 was the home of a farm, an aggregates business and a transport company. As such it is was in “working condition” including having two old and rusting buses in close proximity (the single decker just outside is partly visible in one photograph, the other double decker inside the wall is not shown). Spectacular nevertheless. The following from the third edition: "Early c16. Heavily and closely timber-framed. N and S diapered brick ends, crowstepped and with chimney stacks. Jettied front with brick ground floor and brick nogging on the first floor. Two two-storey brick projections, one for the entrance, one for the stairs. They both have four and five-light stuccoed windows with transoms and pediments, and a timber-framed, gabled third storey added in the C17. The back of the house, irregular, all brick nogged. At the S end, two two single storey porch-like extensions, also with stepped gables, and at this end also medieval stone fragments that may be part of an earlier house, or may have been brought in from elsewhere."
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See my other site suffolkguildhalls.com for more details about the gildhall.