Building record SUP 039 - Grange Farm Cottage, Saxham Street

Grange Farm Cottage is a well preserved ‘open-hall’ house of the early-15th century that contains a number of historically significant features. Its sitting room was originally open to its roof in the manner of a barn, with the only source of heat derived from a bonfire-like open hearth burning on its floor; the timbers of the roof, now hidden in the attic, are still thickly encrusted with medieval soot. Rare evidence of original windows, which acted as unglazed smoke-vents, can be seen in both front and rear walls, and smoke was also allowed to escape through a triangular ‘gablet’ beneath the thatch. The arch of the original entrance door survives in the front wall, together with evidence of an internal door that linked the hall to an inner sleeping apartment known as a parlour to the right of the house. A pair of additional storage rooms probably lay beyond the present left-hand gable but have been demolished. Dramatic alterations to the building were made in the 16th and 17th centuries that neatly illustrate the changing nature of English society and domestic comfort during the same period. A chimney stack was inserted and the smoky, draughty open hall was floored over and provided with glazed windows. Important evidence of 17th and 18th century superstition in the form of mummified cats and a rare glass ‘witch bottle’ was discovered during recent renovation work, and while it is understood that some of this material was deposited in a museum, three items remain to protect the house against evil spirits (S1).