Nethergate Street, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 8NP

Nethergate House is a substantial early-16th century building of national historic significance but no less importantly it is also a wonderful family home. Awarded a Grade I listing in 1961, today Nethergate House is one of Clare’s most distinguished architectural gems. This seven bedroom house with over 5000 sq.ft. of accommodation features a beautiful garden that leads down to the River Stour.

England has many fine houses but being designated Listed Grade I gives added cachet and leaves no doubt that this is one of the finest houses in the country. In Suffolk there are only 400 such buildings, of which a good number are public buildings including many churches and as such this makes Nethergate House all the more unique.

Arguably Clare’s most famous resident was Lady Elizabeth de Clare, granddaughter of King Edward I. In 1336 she was granted a licence to establish a “collegium” to which she gave a most generous endowment. Three years later it became known as Clare Hall and is the second oldest Cambridge college, now known as Clare College.

Nethergate House has its own striking Cambridge connection in a former owner, C P Snow. Charles Percy Snow was a best selling and prolific author most recognised for his series of novels known collectively as Strangers and Brothers. In 1930, at the age of 25, he became a Fellow of Christ's College until his death in 1980. After working in molecular physics at Cambridge for around 20 years, he became a university administrator, but with the outbreak of World War II, he became a scientific adviser to the British government.

With his wife Pamela Hansford Johnson (another published author) he lived at Nethergate House between 1952 and 1957 and in the sitting room are their respective carved initials in one of the supporting wall beams!

In the Middle Ages Clare was a prosperous town with much of its wealth coming from the wool trade, particularly clothmaking. Local dyers, spinners and weavers produced fine broad woollen cloth that was sent down to the Port of London and exported to Europe, particularly Spain. With such prosperity came the building of fine dwellings and one of the earliest such buildings still standing is Nethergate House.

  “The occupier of Nethergate House is both curator and guardian of our national heritage whilst having all the fun of living with so much history”

The house is believed to date from the early 16th century and having a timber frame construction with wattle and daub infilling and plastered elevations. The fine cut and moulded chimney stacks are particularly decorative and ornate though in fact date from the Edwardian, inspired no doubt to take account of a by-law of 1614 which demanded that chimneys had to be built in brick and be four and a half feet proud of the roof to reduce the risk of fire; failure to comply would have resulted in a fine of £5, a significant sum at the time.

The house retains a finely carved early-17th century staircase in a rear turret that now adjoins a second staircase added when the hall was raised in height towards the end of the same century. The house operated as a school in the 19th century, with 22 boarders recorded on the 1841 census, and was restored under the auspices of the architect Munro Cautley in 1906. It was an hotel throughout the 1970’s and 80’s.

All the comforts of home

“Here sleep the present and the past, In a peaceful place their lot is cast”.

The joy of living in a house like Nethergate House is that despite its great age it has adapted incredibly well to modern living and is now a supremely comfortable and elegant family home with well balanced accommodation that largely leads off the magnificent central grand hall. A particular feature are the pair of staircases which also run up against large windows flooding the entire space with natural light.

The kitchen and bathrooms are all in excellent condition.

The garden is an absolute joy, with a south facing terrace framed by the house on two sides and a meandering path that leads down to the River Stour.

The perfect place to live

"period properties and rich history without the chocolate-box perfection” The Sunday Times

Clare is a market town on the north bank of the River Stour in southwest Suffolk, 14 miles (23 km) from Bury St Edmunds and 9 miles (14 km) from Sudbury.  Clare won Village of the Year in 2010 and Anglia in Bloom award for Best Large Village 2011 for its floral displays in 2011. In March 2015, The Sunday Times and Zoopla placed Clare amongst the top 50 UK rural locations, having "period properties and rich history without the chocolate-box perfection” 

The town has a 36-acre country park featuring the remains of an important Norman Castle. Clare benefits from a range of boutique and antique shops, hairdressers, small supermarket, restaurants and cafés. The market towns of Sudbury (approx. 9 miles) and Bury St Edmunds (approx. 14 miles) provide larger regional facilities. Audley End and Sudbury also offer rail links connecting to London's Liverpool Street. The latter is via Marks Tey and takes approx. 79 minutes. Schools in the town are Clare Community Primary School and the well renowned secondary school of Stour Valley Community School. The independent school of Stoke College in Stoke is approx. 3 miles away and offers co-education day and boarding for children aged between 11 and 18. Cambridge and Stansted airports are approximately 25 miles and 24 miles away respectively.

Out and About 

The area is home a variety of equestrian amenities including racing at Newmarket and Polo at Suffolk Polo Club. Clare is also home to its very own 9 hole golf course at Clare Park Lake with further courses to be found at Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds. In the area there are excellent water activities available on the river. Walking, cycling and horse riding are also in abundance. The town has recently added the new Clare town trail which takes in many of the town’s rich historic features and scenic riverside walks. The trail was set up as a collaboration between Clare Ancient House Museum and Clare Castle Country Park.