Manor House and Cottage - Cann's Lane
These properties overlooking the east edge of the common were most likely the earliest dwellings in the hamlet of Lynch Green to be built of brick. The taller build to the left, forming part of what is now the Manor House, is late sixteenth century. It would have been an unusual tower-like house in its original single-cell stand-alone form. Maybe the design was dictated by the plot available at the time. The lower build to the right is early seventeenth century.
The early house with cellar, main floor and attic is built at the front in random bond under a pantile roof. Gables are of brick and flint, although the one to the right is mostly covered by the later extension. A polygonal buttress clasps the corner of this gable which has a parapet supporting an octagonal stack of moulded bricks. To the left is a nineteenth-century leanto. The adjoining seventeenth-century building, in English bond, is set back slightly. It forms part of Manor House, and the south end, with its later extensions, is Manor Cottage.
Although most window and door openings have been changed or replaced, several reveal original features. These include brick arches at the front and rear of Manor House and some early frames supporting later casements.
All three bays have bridging beams with small lamb's-tongue chamfers. Exposed rafters and high collars are visible at the north end. An interesting sixteenth-century fireplace with a chamfered brick arch under the north stack shows signs of adaptation to take a later range. The remains of an old draw well, once serving the needs of several cottages, are outside Manor Cottage.
The earliest owner to be identified from the Enclosure Award of 1800 is Timothy Bunn. By 1846, Robert Lilley, yeoman and butcher, was the owner, and his title clearly states that he had purchased land, formerly part of the common called Lynch Green and a double cottage, and that all hereditaments were freehold. Maurice Howes, blacksmith, lived there from 1922 until 1950.
One interesting use to which part of the building was put was that of the parish reading room during the ownership of Harriet Vince. This is mentioned in the census returns of 1881. The parish magazine of August 1879 states that: "To have a comfortable reading room, with another for games, where smoking is not forbidden, and where coffee, ginger beer etc can be easily obtained, must be of great advantage to the parish, more especially to the young men of Hethersett."
There is no mention in the abstracts of title, of the name, Manor House, until 1973, and it seems unlikely that it ever was a manor house of any of the three Hethersett manors.
The early house with cellar, main floor and attic is built at the front in random bond under a pantile roof. Gables are of brick and flint, although the one to the right is mostly covered by the later extension. A polygonal buttress clasps the corner of this gable which has a parapet supporting an octagonal stack of moulded bricks. To the left is a nineteenth-century leanto. The adjoining seventeenth-century building, in English bond, is set back slightly. It forms part of Manor House, and the south end, with its later extensions, is Manor Cottage.
Although most window and door openings have been changed or replaced, several reveal original features. These include brick arches at the front and rear of Manor House and some early frames supporting later casements.
All three bays have bridging beams with small lamb's-tongue chamfers. Exposed rafters and high collars are visible at the north end. An interesting sixteenth-century fireplace with a chamfered brick arch under the north stack shows signs of adaptation to take a later range. The remains of an old draw well, once serving the needs of several cottages, are outside Manor Cottage.
The earliest owner to be identified from the Enclosure Award of 1800 is Timothy Bunn. By 1846, Robert Lilley, yeoman and butcher, was the owner, and his title clearly states that he had purchased land, formerly part of the common called Lynch Green and a double cottage, and that all hereditaments were freehold. Maurice Howes, blacksmith, lived there from 1922 until 1950.
One interesting use to which part of the building was put was that of the parish reading room during the ownership of Harriet Vince. This is mentioned in the census returns of 1881. The parish magazine of August 1879 states that: "To have a comfortable reading room, with another for games, where smoking is not forbidden, and where coffee, ginger beer etc can be easily obtained, must be of great advantage to the parish, more especially to the young men of Hethersett."
There is no mention in the abstracts of title, of the name, Manor House, until 1973, and it seems unlikely that it ever was a manor house of any of the three Hethersett manors.