Bridge Cottage is a 16th-century

thatched cottage Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, Phragmites, water reed, Cyperaceae, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), Juncus, rushes, Calluna, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away f ...

Flatford Flatford is a small hamlet close to East Bergholt in Suffolk. It is most famous for Flatford Mill, Willy Lott's Cottage and Bridge Cottage, immortalised in the paintings of John Constable. Access by road Flatford is accessible by Road from Eas ...

East Bergholt East Bergholt is a village in the Babergh District of Suffolk, England, just north of the Essex border. The nearest town and railway station is Manningtree, Essex. East Bergholt is north of Colchester and south of Ipswich. Schools include Ea ...

, Suffolk, England. It has been a

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

property since 1943 and a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

since 1955. The National Trust market the property under the name "Flatford: Bridge Cottage". The building is

timber framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

, but this is not evident from the outside as it is rendered. The II* grading, unusual for an architecturally unremarkable cottage, "reflects the importance of the cottage as part of the

Flatford Mill Flatford Mill is a Grade I listed watermill on the River Stour at Flatford in East Bergholt, Suffolk, England. According to the date-stone the mill was built in 1733, but some of the structure may be earlier. Attached to the mill is a 17th-c ...

group and its significance in the work of John Constable". The property is located in the heart of

Dedham Vale Dedham Vale is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Essex-Suffolk border in east England. It comprises the area around the River Stour between Manningtree and Smallbridge Farm, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Bures, including the ...

, a typical Suffolk rural landscape. It is noted as the location for works by John Constable, and presents an exhibition of his paintings. The cottage is located just upstream from

which, along with neighbouring Valley Farm and

Willy Lott's Cottage Willy Lott's Cottage is a house in Flatford, East Bergholt, Suffolk, England which appears in several paintings by John Constable, notably '' The Hay Wain''. The property is Grade I listed to reflect its importance "as part of the Flatford ...

, are leased to the

Field Studies Council Field Studies Council is an educational charity based in the UK, which offers opportunities for people to learn about and engage with the outdoors. History It was established as the Council for the Promotion of Field Studies in 1943 with the ...

; a group uses them as locations for arts-based courses. The property provides access to a number of walks along the River Stour.

References

External links

Flatford
- National Trust Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk Houses in Suffolk National Trust properties in Suffolk East Bergholt Historic house museums in Suffolk Art museums and galleries in Suffolk John Constable Thatched buildings in Suffolk Timber framed buildings in Suffolk {{Suffolk-struct-stub