Series Information
Episode 2 – Church Farmhouse Cottage, Suffolk
Showing Times
- Coming Soon
In each programme our duo are called in to solve the hidden history of a house, no matter how big or small, old or new.
Dr Nick Barratt is our archive specialist. Dr Jonathan Foyle is our architectural historian and archaeologist.
In this programme Jonathan and Nick are called in to investigate the hidden past of a house of two halves in the idyllic Suffolk countryside. Each half is a different size and shape and the house has no straight walls, floors or regular angles – it could have come out of a storybook.
Homeowners Sheila and Jim Giblett have always sought a house full of history, and they’ve certainly got what they wanted. From their own research they had established that the house was built in the 1620s, but they want to know who built the house, who lived in the house and the exact date it was built. As a young family with small children they’re particularly keen to know if any other children lived in their home and what their lives would have been like.
They’ve called in the Hidden House History team to uncover the truth about their magical home.
During an initial walk around the house exterior Jonathan looks at the distinct kink between the two halves. He’s sure they were built at different times, but which one was built first and when was it?
Examining more detailed features he spots a tiny window underneath the roof which is surrounded by knarled oak and which he identifies as an overlow window circa 1550 – 1630, so perhaps this is an Elizabethan house? Around this period he knows that people were beginning to build less in timber and more in brick - the brick chimney pots he spots are distinctly Tudor and further confirm his suspicions.
Investigating the interior of the house, Jonathan suspects that the other part of the building may be medieval. The presence of a screen corridor running from the front to the back doors, along with a massive piece of timber that runs from the top to the bottom of the house, suggest that the early part of the house was built in the traditional medieval fashion of a Hall house. He even finds soot and smoke residue at the top of the beam. Careful measuring and drawing creates a picture that clearly shows both a medieval building and a Tudor addition.
In an attempt to date the house more specifically Jonathan changes tack and takes his investigation outside and underground. He convinces Jim Giblett to get his hands dirty and they start digging. They uncover ceramics, handles, nails and pottery pieces, - all Victorian and several feet down the findings stop. But the house owners get the digging bug and dig further trenches from which they pull some interesting pieces.
Jonathan calls in his last hope – Dendrochronologist Michael Worthington who takes samples of wood from around the house and hopes that by examining the timber he can not only date the house but tell Jonathan where the wood came from.
Michael Worthington comes back with some surprising results. Examination of the timbers gives both parts of the house a date of 1612/13. Not only is this forty years later than Jonathan had estimated but is a mystery as to why the house has two distinctive parts. Michael’s conclusion is that the earlier section of the house was almost certainly a Medieval Hall House but that it underwent a modern refit in 1612 when the extension was added.
Nick’s research starts in the more recent past and in the local archives where Sheila joins him to examine the tithe apportionment map and schedule for the parish from 1837. They discover that Thomas Sheldrake was living in the house in 1837 and that not only was he on the plot that the Gibletts now live on, but was farming on many more besides.
The Gibletts now have a quarter of an acre with their property, but Nick’s research shows that in 1837 Thomas Sheldrake and his family lived in a house which had 27 acres of farmland and later records show that the ownership of this land extended to 36 acres.
By consulting the 1851 census, Nick finds some answers for Sheila and Jim about who might have lived in their house. The returns show that in 1851 Thomas Sheldrake had a young son, born in the house in the same year.
Local historian Nick Redman discusses with Nick the hardships and hand to mouth existence the Sheldrake’s would have encountered whilst trying to make a living off the land. Photographs from the 1890s focus on the seasonal agricultural work which involved adults and children alike. The census returns and tithe maps show that the Sheldrakes worked the land for over 50 years. Beyond that the trail goes dead.
Despite the lack of new leads on Thomas Sheldrake, Nick has one further avenue to explore. He noted in the 1851 census that the Sheldrakes were only tenants on the land - the property was owned by Thomas Green. Nick learns that Green was a successful business man who owned a great deal of land around the county. He visits St Mary’s Church in Wilby less than 20 miles from the house and finds a plaque dedicated to the memory of Green. Better still, he finds a family tomb inside the church with descendents dating back to 1658. Nick and Jonathans dates begin to coincide.
Nick and Jonathan take their wealth of findings to a thrilled Sheila and Jim along with some exciting news from Ipswich Museum about the treasures they found in the garden which potentially brings them closer to the tenant farmers who inhabited their house long ago.
