Mercantile Splendour

One of the most important late-medieval merchant’s houses in the country offers a vivid insight into Tudor living on the grand scale.

- John Goodall

During the late Middle Ages, the cloth industry bestowed on nayland quite exceptional prosperity. in 1522, in fact, it was assessed as the 22nd richest town in the kingdom. As a legacy of this wealth, there is preserved here an outstanding collection of timber frame houses. Among them is one little known building of national importance.

Alston Court stands in the heart of the village, across a narrow lane from the church (a chapel of ease until nayland was defined as an independent parish in 1782). it integrates what were previously two distinct properties. The principal of these evolved around three sides of a central courtyard that was closed to the south by a much more modest house. As is often the case with timber-frame buildings, the fabric has been adapted over time. in recent years, through the research of architectural historian Leigh Alston, inspired by a passion for the building and the coincidence of his name, it has been possible to untangle the evolution of the whole complex (although the names of the individual owners responsible remain tantalisingly obscure).

The story of the present building begins in the late 13th century, when a house was constructed with a hall fronting onto the south end of the market place. This prominent position within the village underlines the relative importance of the property. So, too, does its location between the parish church and Court Knoll, a castle site known to have been occupied between the 11th and 13th centuries. it is not impossible, therefore, that the house in some way served as the successor to the castle, perhaps as the residence of a steward for its absentee lords.