Cransford Hall in the Alde Valley near Saxmundham. Photo: Jackson-Stops
The Society are grateful that the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and Historic England, have kindly responded to our request to list this unspoilt Edwardian, Suffolk country house. Cransford Hall is now listed at Grade II.
The large, handsome, Neo-Elizabethan house, in the Alde Valley near Saxmundham, built around 1904, probably for Thomas Borrett’s second son, Thomas Percy Borrett (1840-1913). Neither the Victorian Society nor James Bettley, the author of the Suffolk edition of the Buildings of England, have been able to identify the architect. It is at least the third house on the site. A Georgian (or even earlier) farmhouse was replaced in the 1830s by a “genteel villa residence”, which was rebuilt in turn on a larger scale, as the present Edwardian country house.
The Owners through the 19th century and part of the 20th were local families of some standing and involvement in local affairs. By the mid-century the Borrett family were in residence, commemorated in memorials in the parish church.
The Framlingham Weekly News in August 1910 gives a snapshot of a local occasion there: “By the kind invitation of Mr T.P. Borrett of Cransford Hall, the Bruisyard and Sweffling Branch of the Mothers’ Union spent a most enjoyable afternoon on August 11th. The mothers partook of a bountiful tea on the lawn under the trees … A stroll round the gardens, followed by a vote of thanks to Mrs Borrett… brought a very delightful afternoon to a close.”
Cransford Hall exterior. Photo: Jackson-Stops.
In 1946 the house was bought by Conservative politician Sir George Clements Hamilton, 1st Baronet Ilford (1877-1947), who was succeeded by his businessman son Sir Patrick Hamilton, 2nd Baronet (1908-1992). In 1959 Sir Patrick offered the house to the Thomas Mills High School, Framlingham, then the Mills Grammar School, who used it as a residential boarding house until 1982. It then became a care home and most recently has reverted to a family home.
The house is red brick with stone dressings with all the features of an Elizabethan/Jacobethan house. The long front has four projecting gabled bays. There is a loggia or garden room between two of the bays. The house has heavy Edwardian interiors which the Pevsner author thought more similar to a gentlemen’s club than a private residence. There is a massive wooden staircase. The attractive interiors have high quality wood panelling and fire surrounds, together with moulded plasterwork friezes with wall and ceiling borders. The ponds and terrace add to the appeal of the garden. There is a stable block and walled garden to the North East.
The house was sold recently by Jackson-Stops. The house now has listed protection thanks to the diligence of our listings team.
Cransford Hall, Suffolk. Photo: Jackson Stops.
