SUFFOLK HOUSE - 16th Century
	Tradition associates this house with John of Lydgate, the poet, but the existing wing was built some two hundred years after his birth. However there is evidence of an earlier Hall House which may well go back to his day.
					At the beginning of the twentieth century the whole front was boarded over due to disrepair. In the 1960?s the house was gradually restored. The lower wing just visible on the right is the remains of the original Hall House. Note, too, the original front door and steps leading up to it.
					The house probably belonged to a wealthy merchant and the phases of building can be now seen in the timber frame now fully revealed. The jetty beam is finely carved and shows the status of the house.
					The stepped gable end shows flemish influence and there are still traces of the original orange coloured paint that would have covered the bricks -  the pointing would then have been picked out in white. The house is just up the road from Street Farm and it was perhaps a case of ?keeping up with the Jones?s ? in the latest style.
	The interior of the house is difficult to interpret  but previous occupants have detected a phantom aroma of baked bread and roast meat and there is a tale of secret passages and hiding holes.