The King's Head (also known as The Low House), Laxfield, Suffolk

Summary

A former farmhouse, now public house, built in two phases in the C16, with C18 and C19 alterations and additions, including the incorporation of an C18 outbuilding, possibly a workshop, as a rear cross-wing in the C19, probably as a ground-floor cellar.

Description

MATERIALS: the main range is timber-framed and plastered, the façade scored to imitate ashlar, with brick stacks and a thatched roof. The cross-wing is plaster rendered, possibly over a timber frame, with brick to the extended C19 section, and a pantile roof.

PLAN: the main range is rectangular-on-plan, aligned north-west to south-east, with a rear cross-wing projecting to the north-east. For simplicity cardinal compass points will be used in the following description i.e. as though the main range stands on a north to south alignment.

EXTERIOR: the two-storey principal façade faces west towards the Church of All Saints (listed Grade I) and has an off-centre right doorway flanked by two casement windows on the right-hand side and a single casement window on the left-hand side. On the first floor there are three casement windows of which the two at the right-hand side are positioned directly above the ground-floor windows. The windows, which are probably of C18 date, are all subdivided by glazing bars into small rectangular panes. The thatched roof has a deep overhanging eaves with an early-C21 ridge piece and a C19 central ridge stack with a cogged cornice.

The south gable end is blind with an off-centre left external stack of painted brick, possibly of C18 date, with the upper section rebuilt in red brick in the late-C20. To the right, the south wall of the cross-wing is of painted brick with a small-paned casement window and a truncated external stack, all of probable C19 date.

The north gable end has a six-panel door to the ground floor and a small-paned two-light casement window to the first floor, both centrally placed.

At the rear, the northern half of the eastern elevation is obscured by a C19 lean-to while a cross-wing, formerly an C18 outbuilding which was extended and incorporated into the main range in the C19, probably as a ground-floor cellar, projects to the east at the south end. The lean-to, which is of painted brick with a C20 slate roof, has an off-centre left plank and batten stable door flanked by a small-paned casement window to the left-hand side and a large-paned casement window to the right. An external stack to the main range, now largely of C19 and C20 red brick with a cogged cornice, rises through the lean-to roof at the north end. Above, there is a small casement window placed at the centre of the first floor. A plank and batten door to the left-hand side of the lean-to gives access to the main range. Left again, the north wall of the cross-wing has an off-centre right doorway with double plank and batten doors with glazed panels. The walling to the left-hand side of the doorway is plaster-rendered while that to its right-hand side if of C19 painted brick. Its east gable end, which is also plaster rendered, is lit by a two-light casement window.

INTERIOR: the front door leads directly into the main bar area in the southern portion of the pub, to the south of the ridge stack, which has largely remained unaltered since the late C19. It is known as the Settle Room on account of it being dominated by high wooden settles on the east, south and west sides, all fixed to the ceiling beams by iron brackets, with their backs defining a corridor running round the room; this settle-based snug is a rare survival with only seven known examples identified by the CAMRA Pub Heritage Group, including the North Star, Steventon, Oxfordshire, the Red Lion, Kenninghall, Norfolk, and the Galway Arms, Retford, Nottinghamshire (all listed at Grade II). On the north side there is a brick-built fireplace with a plain wooden surround, moulded mantelshelf and an unusual two-tiered, stepped, hearth with a swivelling hearth crane and flanking spice cupboards to the upper hearth. Placed above the left-hand side doorway in the east wall is a former service bell of probable late-C19 date. The walls have tongue-and-groove dado panelling above which they are plastered and painted with two plank and batten doors on the east side and two exposed wall studs on the south side; very little framing is exposed on the ground floor. The ceiling is also plastered and painted with a slightly chamfered transverse beam spanning the south end, supported on the east side by a chamfered and jowled wall post. The floor is of red and black quarry tiles laid in a diamond pattern.

On the south side of the Settle Room a reused two-panelled door gives access to a small, rectangular-shaped room known as the Card Room. It has fixed bench seating all around the room, attached to tongue-and-groove dado panelling, above which the walls and ceiling are plastered and painted. On the south side there is a boarded-up fireplace with a C19 wooden surround with roundels in the corner blocks. Its floor is of red and black quarry tiles laid in a linear pattern.

At the south-east corner of the Settle Room, immediately to the right-hand side of the jowled post supporting the transverse beam, a doorway gives access to two rooms in the rear cross wing. The first room, which occupies the western half and is known as the Tap Room, has pew seating placed against plain panelled dado walls on the east, south and west sides. The walls above the panelling are plastered and painted on the north, south and west sides while the east wall and ceiling are clad with tongue-and-groove panelling. Its west wall, which was formerly an external wall to the C16 range, has a horizontal sliding sash window of which the left-hand sash has been removed and the opening infilled. The floor is mainly laid with black quarry tiles in a diamond pattern; the exception to this is a small area of red and black quarry tiles laid in a diamond pattern on the north side of the room. This floor tiling defines a passageway from the Settle Room to the ground-floor cellar in the eastern half of the cross-wing, where customer's glasses are filled directly from barrels kept on a stillage, an historic service arrangement, in which drinks do not pass across any kind of counter or hatch, which is believed to survive is just seven pubs in England (Brandwood, 2016, p45). The cellar has a concrete screed floor with a wooden-framed stillage supported on brick legs placed along its east and west walls. A separate wooden counter with painted wooden legs stands along the north wall. Wooden shelves are placed all round the room, with the north wall also having a large wooden cabinet with glass panels. A small servery, possibly of late-C19 date, stands in the south-west corner. It consists of an open timber frame with a doorway on the north side and three tiers of modern shelving enclosing the remaining three sides.

The northern section of the main range, to the north of the central stack, is occupied by the pub’s Dining Room. Originally a living room until 1992, it is accessed from the Settle Room through doorways on either side of the fireplace, of which the right-hand side doorway has a timber lintel, brick floor, exposed wall framing with an original window opening (now blocked) and exposed ceiling joists. The Dining Room itself has an early-C20 cast-iron fireplace along with late-C20 settle seating and wooden laminate flooring. The walls and ceiling are plastered and painted with the latter having two unchamfered transverse beams.

The kitchen in the C19 lean-to retains no historic fixtures and fittings of note.

The first-floor living accommodation is accessed by a straight-flight staircase placed on an east-west alignment to the north of the central stack. That to the south of the stack, is subdivided into two rooms by C18 panelled partitions with matching doors, all with painted oak graining. Both rooms display a significant amount of exposed timber framing, including the wall plate, wall studs and jowled wall posts along with curved wind braces to the east and west walls and straight wind braces to the south wall. Although the insertion of an attic ceiling means that the upper section of the roof structure is not visible, principal and common rafters are exposed below this along with a tie beam in the south wall. On the west side, directly above the main door, an original window opening (now blocked) is visible. In the northern portion, to the north of the stack, three rooms are accessed off a north-south aligned corridor on the west side. One room has a C18 panelled door with painted oak graining while the other two have plank and batten doors with iron latches. Most of the framing in this section is concealed behind plastered walls, although some wall studs and an original window opening (now blocked) are visible in the east wall.

History

Although the precise origins of the King’s Head public house, also known as The Low House, are unknown, the historical development of Laxfield combined with its historic fabric suggests that it was built in two phases in the C16, a period when pastoral farming, particularly dairying and cattle fattening, dominated this area of the High Suffolk Claylands. The first phase is believed to have been a small, timber-framed farmhouse, which now forms the section to the south of the ridge stack, while the second phase, probably forming a traditional Suffolk longhouse, was a northern extension which was further extended in the C18. By 1884, when the Ordnance Survey published the first 25-inch map of Laxfield, the building had adopted its current footprint. The map also depicts the addition of a rear lean-to along with the incorporation of a C18 outbuilding to form a rear cross-wing, probably as a ground-floor cellar.

The first known documentary evidence relating to its use as a public house, in which the ground-floor rooms were opened up to the public for the consumption of beer, appears in an article published in the Ipswich Journal on 20 February 1779 when it was reported that “the creditors of Henry Ungless, the younger, of the parish of Laxfield, are requested to file their accounts to the King’s Head in Laxfield…”.

Historically, public houses performed many functions, and it is known that the King's Head was used for a whole variety of activities in the C18 and C19, including legal proceedings, inquests and as a lodging house. In addition, in keeping with its rural location, the licensees who ran the King’s Head often engaged in other trades to supplement their income. This was illustrated when the pub was advertised for sale in the Suffolk Chronicle on 22 May 1858 when, along with being described as a "long-established public house", the sale particulars accounted for separate workshops for a carpenter, wheelwright and shoemaker. It is believed the pub was purchased by a Mr Benjamin C Etheridge, a brewer from Eye, Suffolk, as it was subsequently advertised to let under his name in the Suffolk Chronicle on 2 October 1858. Along with the pub and workshops, the advertisement also described the premises as comprising a stable and coach house along with a bowling green, garden and 1a 2r 9p of land.

In June 1873, following the death of Mr Etheridge, the King's Head was sold at auction. It was described in the sale particulars, as advertised in the Suffolk Chronicle on 7 June 1873, as “a long-established full-licensed public house, containing a parlour, little room, bar, kitchen, wash house, cellar, five bedrooms and offices”. Along with the pub, the premises also included “a large bowling green, summer house, carpenter’s shop, shoemaker’s shop, large stables, coach house, buildings, a paddock, orchard and garden, containing altogether 1a 2r 9p".

By 1882, the pub was owned by the brewer Charles John Fisher and Company of Eye, with the landlord being Arthur John Felgate, who was also the village blacksmith. Mr Felgate remained landlord until his death in 1943, when his son Stephen took over, who was then followed by his daughter Hazel who ran it from 1967 to 1969. Its freehold, however, was more involved, with Adnams and Company of Southwold owning it from 1904 (who closed it in 1969) and a Mr John Horsman from 1972 (who closed it in 1981). In 1987 it was bought by Paul and Janet Parsons who ran it until it was purchased by an unknown owner in 1989. In October 1992, with the pub having closed 12 months earlier, it was bought by a consortium comprised of Tony Harvey of Tannington Hall, a local farmer, and eight locals. It was eventually sold back to Adnams in 2001, who closed it again in early 2018. In May 2018 it was bought by The Low House Community Interest Company, a ‘not-for-profit entity’ formed by a group of regulars, in which any money generated by the pub must be ploughed back into the business or gifted to other community ventures.

In 2020, the thatched roof was cleaned, and the ridge piece replaced.

The pub is known locally as The Low House due to its low-lying position behind and below the Church of All Saints (listed Grade I) and the village centre.

Reasons for Listing

The King's Head, a former farmhouse of C16 date, with C18 and C19 alterations and additions, is listed at Grade II for the following princial reasons:

Architectural interest:

* although of two separate C16 phases, it retains a substantially intact timber frame which is of good quality construction and displays original carpentry;

* as a distinctive example of C16 vernacular building traditions in Suffolk;

* the plan-form of the original C16 farmhouse is still legible, with the ground-floor rooms now used as separate drinking spaces;

* it retains historic fixtures and fittings of note, including a two-tier hearth, bench seating and wooden settles.

Historic interest:

* its evolution from farm house to longhouse to public house provides valuable evidence relating to local historic economy, society and tenurial practices;

* as one of only seven pubs identified in England to retain an historic service arrangement, in which drinks do not pass across any kind of counter or hatch;

* as one of only seven pubs identified in England to retain a rare example of an historic snug created by wooden settles;

* as an early and particularly clear example of a domestic building converted to a licensed premised prior to the 1830 Beer Act.

Group value:

* with the Church of All Saints (Grade I).

External Links

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