Ufford Hall, Suffolk
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Ufford Hall is a Grade II* listed manor house in Fressingfield, Suffolk, England, dating back to the thirteenth century.
Ufford Hall is a fine example of the timber-framed manor house, incorporating the medieval core of an earlier open-hall house. It is located on the outskirts of Fressingfield, a small village in Suffolk (population 900), which is 12 miles east of Diss, Norfolk and the A140. At least twenty raised-aisled houses have been identified in the area, "forming a characteristic group, rarely found elsewhere in England".[1] The house is approached by a tree-lined drive and stands on a once fully moated site, of which two substantial arms remain to this day. It “is perhaps best glimpsed in summer when the sun is shining on the south front, with its rosy ochre coloured plaster walls and dark tiled roof”.[2] The Hall has attracted the attention of architectural historians, such as Pevsner[3] and Sandon,[4] and has been described as the “ultimate development (…) of the early hall house.”[5] Its most noteworthy features include: cross-beamed ceiling in the parlour which has not been disturbed since the late fifteenth century or early sixteenth century; striking original sixteenth century mullioned and transomed windows; back-to-back stuccoed fireplaces on both floors and chimney stacks of Tudor origin; fine Jacobean dog-leg staircase with turned balusters and newel posts with ball finials. The latter is the last major addition to the house, which remains largely unaltered from the original.
