Building record ASN 038 - Bambridge Hall

Bambridge Hall is a timber-framed and rendered structure that was built in 1783 as the Assington Parish Workhouse, and subsequently converted into four cottages after the construction of the Sudbury Union Workhouse in the 1830s.The workhouse extends to 52 feet in length by 18 in width, precisely as specified in the building estimates. The ground floor originally contained only two rooms ('Ward Room' and 'Governor's Room') divided by a studwork partition that has survived the extensive alterations of the 19th century. The ward room was heated by a central fireplace against its rear wall, which remains largely intact, and lit by a series of wide windows that have been remodelled. The two chimney stacks that now flank the original fireplace are later additions that are contemporary with the various inserted partitions and staircases of the 19th century cottages. The workhouse was entered by a cross-passage of which both front and rear doors are now blocked. The existing doorway in the middle of the building linked the ward room to the entrance passage, and the only stair to the upper storey rose from the rear corner of the governor’s room. The arrangement of this stair has escaped alteration, and still rises to a landing that permits access either to the ‘Governor’s Chamber’ the ‘Two Chambers’ above the ward room or the ‘Two Garrets’ in the roof. The partition dividing the two first-floor chambers appears to be original to the structure, despite interrupting a window in the front elevation, but all other partitions and stair traps at this level are secondary. The original fenestration has been lost, with the possible exception of a small first-floor casement in the rear wall. The existing partitions of the attic rooms relate to the 19th century conversion but are of historic interest as they consist largely of recycled bed rails, pierced for ropes, and presumably represent the remains of the 11 inmates’ bedsteads recorded in the inventory of 1808. The garrets were lit by gable windows and, probably, by a central dormer window to the front elevation (S1).