Listed Building: WORLINGWORTH HALL (281392)

WORLINGWORTH TM 26 NW 5/111 Worlingworth Hall GV II* Manor house. Late C13 core, with other work of C15, C16, early C17 and C18. Main range has C19 and C20 additions. A 3-cell main range with 2-cell service wing to rear, forming L-shape plan. Timber framed and plastered, roof of glazed black pantiles. 2 storeys, one small attic in main range. 4 windows, C18 casements without glazing bars, set well below the eaves. Ground floor has full-width conservatory, added in 1987; within are 3 glazed patio doors of 1987 and a C19 half-glazed door. Internal stack with good original sawtooth shaft. Gable stack to left, set across the ridge, and a small square stack to the right gable end, set forward of the ridge. Interior. First floor room to left of main range contains the remains of the upper bay of an aisled hall. This is a rare survival of part of a C13 manor house. The arcade posts have shallow-moulded capitals and were a rounded square in section: this profile is only found in Suffolk at the aisled hall of similar date at The Woodlands, Brundish (1½km to the east) and the 2 are almost certainly by the same carpenter. Straight braces from each arcade post to the arcade plates, remains of clasping passing braces, one extra tie beam close to the open truss. A further on-edge tie-beam is probably a later insertion. At the gable wall, a closed truss originally at the upper end of the hall, with passing braces rising into the gable. Tie beam braces are crossed by a further brace notch-lap jointed at the head, forming a pair of saltires. The arcade posts here had half-capitals, their braces to the arcade plates now lost. In C15 a raised-aisle open truss was formed by cutting the arcade posts just below the capitals and supporting them on a fine cambered bridging beam with massive solid arched braces. There is a triple cavetto moulding on the beam and a single cavetto on the braces, continued down the buttress-shafted wallposts. At this time the side walls were rebuilt inside their C13 alignment. C16 stack inserted in lower bay of hall, against the open truss. 2 good open fireplaces on ground floor. C17 inserted floor in left hand room has axial bridging beam and chamfered joists. Remainder of main range considerably modernised, with much structure concealed. Roof timbers in attic concealed, remainder of roof not examined. Service range in 2 C16 phases, the later cell to rear partly rebuilt c.1980. Both phases have plain joists, set flat, on the ground floor. Exposed first floor studding. Earlier phase had plain crown-post roof, the main trusses only intact. Later cell has intact butt purlin roof with cambered collars. Listing NGR: TM2359368960