Description

BURY ST EDMUNDS

TL86NE MILDENHALL ROAD
639-1/13/474 (East side)
07/08/52 The Priory Hotel
(Formerly Listed as:
MILDENHALL ROAD
(East side)
Babwell Friary)

II*

House, now a hotel, on the site of the former Babwell Friary,
a house of Franciscan friars transferred here after 1262. C16,
C17 and C18, possibly with a fragmentary older core. Part
timber-framed and rendered, part flint with brick dressings.
Plaintiled roofs. Complex plan, with the principal range
aligned east-west and with 2 wings extending northwards from
it.
EXTERIOR: part 2 storeys, part 2 storeys and attics. The
principal range is timber-framed and rendered and has a red
brick gable end facing the Mildenhall Road which incorporates
a C16 chimney-stack with 4 detached hexagonal shafts on
moulded bases. In the early C17 the stack was widened and
given shaped gables; quoins to the lower stages are partly of
stone. Just below the chimney shafts a recessed plaster panel
with the remains of a sundial.
The principal front is on the south side. 5 window range: all
12-pane sashes in flush cased frames. The central 6-panel
double entrance door is partly glazed and set in a heavy
Tuscan porch. An internal chimney-stack has 5 attached
hexagonal sawtooth shafts on a low rectangular base. The pitch
of the roof has been made shallower to accommodate a larger
attic storey.
On the east, a 2-storey flat-roofed canted bay was added to
the gable end in the C18: 3 windows, all 12-pane sashes in
flush cased frames; a plain parapet with a moulded stucco
cornice. In the gable above the flat roof a 2-light casement
window and moulded bargeboards with a small lion's head at the
apex.
The wing extending northwards from the east end of the main
range is in 2 sections: part with sash windows in Georgian
style, part on a lower level with a split level mansard roof.
The long wing extending northwards from the west end of the
main range and fronting the Mildenhall Road is in flint with
white brick dressings: externally of the early C19, it is
thought to contain fragments of the Friary buildings, although
none are visible. 6 window range: 12-pane sashes in shallow

reveals. 2 half glazed doors and 4 sash windows to the ground
storey. An internal chimney-stack has 3 hexagonal shafts on
moulded bases similar to those on the gable end stack;
originally it had 4 shafts.
INTERIOR: the east-west range is in 3 bays and was first
divided into 3 heated rooms. Only main beams are visible on
the ground storey, boxed in the east bay. The 2 west bays have
ovolo-moulded trimmers and a main cross-beam which formerly
held a partition, now faced with later boarding. The end stack
on the west has a very wide fireplace with plain stone jambs
and a straight chamfered lintel. The internal stack has 2
back-to-back hearths on each storey, all rendered over to
simulate stone. On the ground storey these have simple
ovolo-moulded segmental-arched openings; on the upper storey
one has a moulded Tudor arch with spandrels. Another upper
fireplace has been 'Georgianised' and has patterned blue Delft
tiles.
Along the north upper wall of this range is a section of close
studding with a blocked 3-light ovolo-moulded mullioned window
and main posts with long jowls. Within the upper room at the
east end the tie-beam of the original end wall is exposed with
an unusual form of folded leaf carving and the central motif
of a pomegranate. Some sash windows on each storey have
panelled internal shutters. An early C19 stair has stick
balusters and a wreathed handrail.
The Babwell Friary remains are a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
(BOE: Pevsner N: Radcliffe E: Suffolk: London: 1974-:
153-154).

Listing NGR: TL8505665991

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17540333

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy