The Vicarage is a fascinating and complex historic house featuring elements from several periods: the late 15th century, early to mid-16th century, 17th century, early 18th century, and a significant renovation in 1870. The building was substantially reduced in size around 1960, with the removal of some rear additions.

Layout and Structure

The house consists of several sections:

  • A front hall range with a rear parallel range.
  • A cross-wing to the left.
  • A smaller wing to the right, positioned behind and at a right angle to the front range.

The building is timber-framed, with the following notable features:

  • The front predominantly displays 16th-century-style imitation studwork with herringbone brick infill, added in 1870.
  • A small section of the frontage has a plastered finish with coved eaves cornice.
  • Plain-tiled roofs and remnants of panelled plasterwork at the rear.

Architectural Features

  • Two-storey construction, with the cross-wing also containing an attic.
  • Casement windows and two ground-floor bay windows with plain-tiled roofs.
  • A central gabled porch with an upper floor that overhangs. The entrance features carved spandrels and a partly-glazed studded door. The porch is inscribed with the date 1870 and the initials of Edward Paget, the vicar at the time.
  • The cross-wing’s front gable end retains late 15th-century work, restored in 1870. It includes a jettied first floor with brackets decorated with fleurons and carved buttress-shafts.
  • A heavy ridge stack at the junction of the cross-wing and hall range, with another likely early 17th-century stack at the right gable end of the hall range.

Interior Highlights

  • Most of the internal timber framing is concealed, but some original studding is visible in a first-floor room of the hall range.
  • The ground-floor room in the cross-wing features early 18th-century raised and fielded panelling, along with a matching 6-panel door.
  • Several early 18th-century 2-panel doors are also present.
  • To the rear, there is an early 19th-century well staircase with stick balusters and carved tread ends.

The roof over the hall range features queen posts and king posts, with bracing to the ridge piece. Notably, there is no smoke blackening, indicating the absence of an open hearth. One section near the cross-wing has an open truss with decorative details such as chamfered king posts and shallow-curved braces forming a raised-aisle style.

Additional Features

  • The rear range, built later than the front, has a shallower roof pitch. It contains sooted rafters alongside some that were repurposed from earlier jettied structures.
  • Surrounding the Vicarage are the substantial remains of a medieval moat, further emphasising its historical significance.

This remarkable building encapsulates centuries of architectural evolution and offers a unique glimpse into the history of Hoxne.