The Ancient House is a medieval

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

and partly pargeted building located in

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The oldest part of the building is the west wing, dating from the 14th century, whilst the heavily decorated east wing is believed to have been built in 1473. The house features a moulded timber ceiling in one of the ground floor rooms and some elaborately carved oriel windows. It is mentioned in a will dating to 1502. The Ancient House was acquired in the early 1930s by a local farmer, Charles W. Byford, in order to prevent its removal to the United States. It was then gifted in 1938 to Clare Parish Council to put to "a useful public purpose". A museum was established by the council in 1979. In the 1990s it was re-designed with grants and help from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

, St Edmundsbury District Council, and the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British architectural conservation, building conservation charitable organization, charity, founded in 1965 by John Smith (Conservative politician), Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or ...

. It is now preserved as part Landmark holiday accommodation and part museum.

References

External links

Landmark Trust page on the house, as of April 2023Clare Ancient House Museum websiteLandmark Trust history sheet for the Ancient HouseEnglish Heritage listing
{{Authority control Landmark Trust properties in England Grade I listed buildings in Suffolk Grade I listed houses Houses in Suffolk Local museums in Suffolk Timber framed buildings in Suffolk Clare, Suffolk Hall houses