Record Details

NHER Number:19471
Type of record:Building
Name:King's Head Cottages, Crown Street

Summary

An important survival of a timber framed hall house from the 14th century, which was possibly a manor house. The house has a single crown post roof and an upper floor inserted in the 16th century. The house was purchased by Norfolk County Council for the Historic Buildings Trust in 1996.

Images

  • King's Head Cottage, an important 14th century timber framed cottage in Banham  © Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service

Location

Grid Reference:TM 0639 8777
Map Sheet:TM08NE
Parish:BANHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

Remarkable survival of hall house with single crown post truss with soot blackened roof and traces of louvre. 15th century or earlier? Upper floor inserted with stack in 16th century. Restoration 1983 was never completed.
Discovered by S. Heywood and Norfolk County Council Listing staff.
Listed grade II*, see (S2).

See report and photos in file, see (S3).
E Rose (NAU) 22 September 1983

February 1984. Listed, Grade II*.
Listing Description:
House. Late C15. Timber framed with wattle and daub infill, with large areas of breeze blocks inserted during restoration of 1983. Pantiled roof. Open hall plan altered to lobby entrance and floored C17. 2 storeys. Brick plinth. Studding of heavy scantling. Door right of centre under stack. One C20 casement left and right and further casement at south. 2 C17 diamond mullioned timber windows under eaves of 2 and 4 lights. Gabled roof with 2 through eaves sloping dormers with casements. Ridge stack. Rear and both gables with breeze block infill. Square doorway next to segmental window opening at south of rear elevation. Good 4-light diamond mullion window, under eaves, the central mullion moulded. Interior timber frame complete. Fireplace with bressummer and bridging beam in north ground floor room has chamfers terminating in roll and tongue stops. Similar details to south room. Good, and rare survival of Queen post roof, the posts octagonal with moulded bases and capitals, the former circular, the latter polygonal. Both have astragal mouldings. 2 pairs survive. Tie beams originally with large arched braces to principal studs, these now removed. Arched braces to collars and clasped Pur.tins. Central smoke louvre blocked but identifiable by interrupted rafters and triangular section ridge piece.
Information from (S2).
H. Mellor (HES), 22 June 2017.

House compulsorily purchased by Norfolk County Council in 1996 for Historic Buildings Trust.
Also in file architect's plans (1996), see (S4), and further report by S. Heywood, see (S1), now suggesting house is 14th century and possibly a manor.
E. Rose (NLA) 3 June 1997

August 1997. Building recording.
The house originally consisted of a central hall open to the roof with service rooms to the south and a parlour and chamber to the north. These subsidiary rooms both had upper floors. This is indicated by the queen post hall truss which is divided in two by a later ceiling. Peg holes and mortises of the former dias windows survive in the north end wall. Empty dovetail slots for a screens passage is visible on the south end wall. The remains of an arched doorway exist in the south gable end, which may indicate the existence of an extra bay. Empty mortices in the corner posts support this interpretation. Two stop-splayed scarf joints, the heavy arched doorways and the carved queen-post hall truss suggests a date in the second half of the 14th century. The hall was floored over in the 17th century and a large stack was built at the high end of the hall.
See (S5) for further details.
H. White (NLA), 10 September 2009.

1998. Dendrochronological Survey.
Survey proved inconclusive.
See report (S6) for further details.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 17 March 2015.

Restoration begun by March 1999.

Monument Types

  • HALL HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • MANOR (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • TIMBER FRAMED HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status

  • Listed Building

Sources and further reading

---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, W. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 192.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2010. Take a step back in time. 26 October.
---Unpublished Document: Robert Smith. 1992. Notes on Kings Head Cottage, Banham, Norfolk..
---Photograph: 1996. Photographic record of Kings Head Cottage, Banham. Print.
---Photograph: 1980. Photographic record of Kings Head Cottage, Banham. Print.
---Photograph: 1989. Photographic record of Kings Head Cottage, Banham. Print.
---Photograph: Photographic record of Kings Head Cottage, Banham, after restoration. Print.
---Photograph: Photographs of King's Head Cottages, Crown Street, Banham. Black & white.
---Photograph: Photographs of Kings Head Cottages, Crown Street, Banham. Black & white.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1994. [Articles on the compulsory purchase of the King's Head Cottage, Banham].
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1996-1999. [Articles on the restoration work of the King's Head Cottage, Banham].
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1999. [Articles on requirements to lease the King's Head Cottage, Banham from the Norfolk historic Building Trust].
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1999. Heritage restoration work. 20 March.
---Collection: Norfolk Historic Environment Record Staff. 1975-[2000]. HER Record Notes. Norfolk Historic Environment Service.
<S1>Article in Serial: Heywood, S. 1997. Kings Head Cottages, Banham.. The Annual. No 6, p 37ff.
<S2>Designation: English Heritage. National Heritage List for England.
<S3>Unpublished Document: Rose, E.. 1983. Building Report.
<S4>Illustration: Various. Various. Architectural plans.
<S5>Unpublished Document: Heywood, S. 1997. S. Heywood Report. King's Head cottage, Crown Street, Banham.. August.
<S6>Unpublished Contractor Report: Tyers, I. 1998. Tree-ring Analysis of Timbers from King's Head Cottage, Banham, Norfolk. Ancient Monuments Laboratory. 64/98.

Related records - none

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