Description

BURY ST EDMUNDS

TL8564SE ABBEY PRECINCTS
639-1/8/108 (North side)
07/08/52 Provost's House and No.4 Churchyard
(Clopton Cottage)
(Formerly Listed as:
ABBEY PRECINCTS
Provost House (Clopton House) and No
4 Churchyard)

GV I

Formerly known as: The Clopton Asylum ABBEY PRECINCTS.
Almshouses. Built c1744 under the will of Dr Poley Clopton
(d.1730). From c1890 the Vicarage of St James' Church; now
divided between The Provost's House and No.4 Churchyard. In
red brick with stone dressings and quoins; tiled roof with a
parapet and stone cornice.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and basement. A long central range with 2
wings extending north and south. 7 windows to the main range,
all 12-pane sashes in plain reveals; the centre, which breaks
forward slightly, has rusticated quoins, 3 windows and a
pediment with a stone coat of arms bearing the Clopton motto
in Old French 'DORENAVANT OUBLIER NE DOY': (It must not be
forgotten from henceforth). The south gable of each wing has 2
12-pane sash windows in plain reveals to each storey and 2
blank windows to each storey of the walls facing towards the
entry. The entrance door, up 4 stone steps with swept
cast-iron railings, is 8-panel, slightly recessed in a
doorcase with plain pilasters and a moulded flat cornice hood
supported by enriched console brackets. On the frieze is a
panel with a Latin inscription recording Dr Poley's bequest
for the founding of the almshouses.
INTERIOR: this still retains some evidence of the almshouse
layout, but was considerably altered when the building became
St James' Vicarage in the late C19. The extensive basement,
forming a half-cellar, was evidently the main almshouse
storage area and is brick-lined and vaulted throughout. A
corridor runs along the whole front with larders and stores
opening off it. At each end a larger room was used for fuel.
On the ground storey the entrance hall was originally the
communal dining room and still retains a small C18 fireplace
with a plain stone surround at each end. A large late C19
imperial stair was introduced into this area and a number of
doors and doorways altered.
The interior is plain; 2 fireplace surrounds in Georgian
style, one on the ground storey and one above, are in painted

cast-iron; one bears the central motif of a shell, linking it
with the building's use as St James' Vicarage.
HISTORICAL NOTE: No.4 Churchyard (Clopton Cottage) was
apparently the house of the master of the almshouse and has
slightly more prestigious fittings, notably the fireplace
surround in the principal ground storey room, which has a
complex bolection-moulded architrave with corner bosses.

Listing NGR: TL8569964076

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17526912

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

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)