Purton Green (cont)

The following day had us waking rather late, after a nice breakfast we set off for the village of Clare, where we climbed to the top of the Castle, checked out the village Church and had a lovely tea and scone break.

Purton Green cont.

After a 4 hour plus drive we found ourselves driving down the small lane, crossing the ford and finally parking up. It was a hot evening and we can only hope this weather will continue for the rest of the week. The two wheelbarrows are waiting at the entrance to the path but from here there is no sign at all of the Hall, just fields of crops and areas of woodland. The wheelbarrows are loaded (clanging with rather a lot of wine) and with Minky perched in his cage on top we must look like the most eccentric of travellers. The instructions say to simply follow the path keeping the hedge to the right for about 400yards and that you will not see Purton Green until you are almost upon it as its surrounded by woodland. Its a hot sticky walk with Minky singing away in tune with the squeaky wheelbarrow I seem to have. Eventually we turn a final corner and there is our home for the rest of the week, nestling in the shadow of a walnut tree.

Once installed we explore every inch. The Great Hall is lovely and cool whilst the rest of the building is cosy and more traditional. Wine is quickly opened, the deck chairs placed under the walnut tree and all our cares quickly evaporate. That evening we cook fantastic fillet steaks and eat at the long table in the Great Hall watching the sun go down beyond the large oak door and listening to Porcupine tree on the small hi fi we brought along (Music being the one thing we could not go without for the week)

Click on pictures for the full size versions.

Purton Green

Just back from a wonderful break at Purton Green, an isolated Landmark Trust property in the heart of the Suffolk countryside. One or two pictures for now but lots more details to come soon about the trip and the property itself. Just a few details here from the Landmark Trust's own description:

Purton Green is one of the many lost villages of Suffolk, where generations spent their lives, but which are now just patches of lime and fragments in the plough. It lies on an old road running south from Bury St Edmunds, today hardly a path. All that remains is this house. Inside its late medieval walls survives a hall of 1250 – a great rarity.



Aisled on both sides, with scissor-braced trusses and a highly ornamental arcade at the low end, it must once have been an important place.When we bought it in 1969 it was little more than a ruin. As with almost all medieval houses, a floor and central chimney stack had later been inserted, but these additions were so derelict that we felt justified in removing them, to return the hall to its original open state. Part of the house – the high end – was rebuilt in about 1600 and this part we have turned into living quarters. These can only be reached through the hall, which you must cross and recross if you stay here, as your predecessors have done for 700 years.



The house now stands surrounded by fields, with unchanging Suffolk countryside in all directions. After crossing a ford, you leave your car 400 yards from the house; but we provide a wheelbarrow for the rest of the journey. Purton Green Continued.