Farmstead record RAT 076 - Farmstead: Clopton Hall (CA) EVAL

Clopton Hall, Rattlesden. 19th century farmstead and 16th century manor farmhouse. Regular courtyard multi-yard plan formed by working agricultural buildings. The farmhouse is set away from the yard. Significant loss (over 50%) of the traditional farm buildings. Located within an isolated position (S1-6).

Recorded as part of the Farmsteads in the Suffolk Countryside Project. This is a purely desk-based study and no site visits were undertaken. These records are not intended to be a definitive assessment of these buildings. Dating reflects their presence at a point in time on historic maps and there is potential for earlier origins to buildings and farmsteads. This project highlights a potential need for a more in depth field study of farmstead to gather more specific age data.

Clopton Hall is Grade II listed and it comprises the former hall house Clopton Hall, landscaped gardens with partial medieval moat and some outbuildings. The former hall house was built circa 1585 and is known to have been remodeled in 1681.
Clopton Hall is comprised of two stories with attics built over a partial basement. The property has a 4-window main range façade with set-forward hipped wings on a half-H plan layout. The fl at roofed dormers with sashes date from 19th century. The property is timber framed and rendered elevations with rusticated quoins of c.1681 and coved eaves cornice. Part of the building was burnt down and replaced in the 19th century. The property was at one point much more substantial, with a rear extension and wrought iron verandas along two sides dating from 1835 demolished around 1980. There is an axial chimney of red bricks at the centre of the property along with external early 17th century red bricked chimneys on either wing with diaper-patterned terracotta friezes around base of shafts. The top of the east chimney was rebuilt in the 1980’s after it was damaged by heavy gales and smashed part of the roof in January 1976. The dislodged moulded bricks were reinstated. The sash windows probably date from c.1681 with fl ush frames and square panes with thick glazing bars. The front and rear elevation pairs of small-paned sash windows linked by a mullion are a rare survival in Suffolk, although most or all of the sashes are 19th-20th century replacements. The central entrance presents giant Doric pilasters and segmental pediment. A two-storey flat-roofed 19th century porch was obscuring the earlier entrance and it was removed c.1980. At this time a 6-panelled entrance door with pediment was restored. The removed porch was commented on adversely by Pevsner in his book “The buildings of England: Suffolk”.
The Interior is believed to have retained 17th/18th century panelling, and some 17th century panelling with arcaded overmantel. When you enter the house, the paneled front door opens into the double height entrance hall. Off the entrance hall are two of the principal reception rooms, the dining room and library, which are well proportioned and retain many period features including open fireplaces and panelling. The drawing room, located in the west wing, can be accessed either through the library or from the porch on the western elevation. The large kitchen / breakfast room sits within the east wing of the property along with the adjoining boot room and secondary staircase to the first floor. On the first floor there are four spacious bedrooms, including the principal bedroom with an en-suite bathroom. In addition there is a study and a large family bathroom. From the first floor there are two staircases, one in the east wing and one in the west wing, servicing the second floor at either end of the property. On the second floor there are four bedrooms, partially height restricted, with a bathroom and two store rooms.
There is a partial medieval moat which is still visible to the front and eastern side of the Hall. The property is approached along a drive past Clopton Green Farm and across a bridge over the moat (see 2124-DAS-0 Photo-sheets). A non original road with concrete base bridges the moat and it is in a poor condition. The house was commandeered during the Second World War by American forces when the road to the house was introduced in order to drive heavy vehicles (S7).

Clopton Dower House flanks the entrance to the picturesque 17th century facade of Clopton Hall, which occupies an isolated moated manorial site approximately 1 km north-east of Rattlesden village. The building is all that survives of an extensive complex of farm buildings shown on 19th century maps, and was probably designed as a large stable and coach house. It was altered almost beyond recognition when it was converted into a separate dwelling in or about the 1970s, and again when it was substantially rebuilt following a serious fire in circa 1990. The main structure of 1.5 storeys retains some original timber framing in its southern half, with re-used studs, primary wall braces and inverted knee-braces to its open trusses in the typical manner of early-19th century stables and hay lofts. Deal weatherboarding is visible behind the modern cement render of the rear wall, while the eastern facade and southern gable appear to have been lath-and-plastered from the outset. A single-storied flint-rubble shed that projects at right-angles from its north-eastern corner is likely to have formed a cart shed and was added after the 1839 tithe survey, but this too has been largely rebuilt. The most impressive feature of the property is a rare manger consisting of enormous slabs of slate in a rear conservatory that represents a fragment of an open-fronted shelter-shed. Its chief significance lies in the historic context it offers to the Hall as the last remnant of the base court through which the manor would have been approached since the Middle Ages (S8).