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 16
The present curtain-walled structure of
Framlingham
Castle dates from the late 12th Century,
although there was a wooden motte and bailey castle near this site
(possibly where the Castle Inn now stands) a century earlier. In the
1215 Civil War
it
was besieged and captured by King John's
army
and
in
1553
Mary Tudor was
staying in the Castle when she
learned that
she had become Queen. |
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17 The Lanman Museum is housed in the castle and contains artefacts relating to Fram and the area, including a complete run (1859 to 1938) of the Framlingham Weekly News. |
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18
The Readery was the home of (wait for it) The Reader
who (by the terms of Robert Hitcham's will) gave
daily bible readings to the almshouse
residents. |
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19 Jeaffreson's Well was sunk in 1896 in memory of town doctor William Jeaffreson FRCS and his wife Caroline. It was covered with a conical roofed, open-sided structure. Isaac Larter was the first man to make use of this supply communally when he put a tank in the roof to supply the bungalows he had built in Saxmundham Road in the 1930s. The well and tank are now disused. |
| Turn back into Castle Street and retrace your steps. Turn left into Double Street | |
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20
The two Victorian
Pillar Boxes were bought in 1856 and 1857 and are still well
used. The other box can be seen at
the
junction of Mount Pleasant and College Road.) |
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21 Double Street was originally called Bow Street and is thought to be the inner moat of the motte and bailey castle. It got its present name when houses and shops were built on both sides of the road. It was once the main shopping street. |
| Cross over Church Street into the churchyard. | |
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22
St Michael's Church has many important features including
a curious wall painting dating from 1400,
a fine hammer beam roof,
superb tombs of the Howard family in the unique chancel and the
Thamar
Organ built in
1674. |
|
Continue through the churchyard, down
Church
Steps, along Church Lane,
and when you get back to the Market Hill turn
right down Bridge Street. |
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23
During the first half of the 19th century Fram
was the legal
centre for thirty three parishes. Petty sessions
were held
at the back of the Crown Hotel until 1872 when
the Court
House was built. Judges' courts were held until 1924
and Magistrates' courts until 1978 and nowdays the Court House is the
library. |
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24 The Unitarian Church built in 1717 was the first meeting house for dissenters in Fram. In 1812 the East Anglian Unitarian Society was formed and in 1813 the old meeting house became the Unitarian Church and is still used for worship. The house next door on the left was the Manse and the initials RBC on the door stand for Richard and Bridget Clarke who owned the house before it was sold as the Manse. They bought the house in 1631 so the date 1681 may refer to the year the house had a makeover. |
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25 Down the lane to the left of the house is the former Check House for the Mauldens Mill (a steam-power mill), and more recently the house was a betting shop. |
| Carry on down Bridge Street to Well Close Square or return the Elms Car Park by the footpath on your right. You pass on your right the Elm Flats which stand on land that was the Cattle Market until 1937. | |
| 26 Well Close Square was named for Mr Henry Wells who established a large shop in what's now Clarke and Simpson in 1829. Every conceivable commodity was sold ... and he went bankrupt in 1834. | |
| Turn back and turn left down New Road. | |
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27 Hitcham's Almhouses were built in 1654 using money bequeathed by Sir Robert Hitcham and Tudor bricks salvaged from the castle. The buildings are still occupied and still have a pump in the porch. There was a school at the far end erected in 1789 but this is now the Masonic Hall. You can turn right in to the Elms Car Park where you started. |
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In the Elms Car Park there is a gateway onto the Mere. |
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