Pictures of buildings mentioned in the second edition “Suffolk” volume of “The Buildings of England” series by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner.
The third edition sums up Bildeston as "The woollen cloth industry made Bildeston a prosperous little town in the later Middle Ages, centred on the market place off the road from Stowmarket to Hadleigh."
Bildeston is difficult to interpret from the second edition descriptions. This is evident from the third edition which discusses them and others in a different, more logical order. Here's my best guess at the original ones.
Bildeston is difficult to interpret from the second edition descriptions. This is evident from the third edition which discusses them and others in a different, more logical order. Here's my best guess at the original ones.
There are mentions of "nice rows of timber-framed houses" so here are some views:
Pevsner then says "In the Market Place the hideous Clock Tower of 1864". We might not think it quite so hideous today. The third edition downgrades it to "incongruous". I daresay in another 150 years or so it will fit in nicely. Seen here:
Continuing: "On the N side a stately three-bay house of the early C19. White brick, Greek Doric porch." Seen here:
and: "On the E side Georgian red-brick house of seven bays and two storeys with a broken pediment and a Venetian window below." Seen here:
Continuing: In the High Street N of the Market Place the King's Head with a pediment on thickly carved brackets. Then several nice timber-framed houses." Seen here:
The group. King's Head in yellow.
The King's Head
S of the Market Place the Crown Inn, handsome, timber-framed, and much restored." Seen here:
