Local historian Martyn Taylor reveals why this Bury St Edmunds house is not quite what it seems

Zodiac House, in Whiting Street, Bury St Edmunds, has been referred to in the past as a fine example of medieval pargeting – fine, yes; medieval, no. Zodiac House is very much a product of the 20th century.

The three-bedroom property was built by Ernie Warren, whose family were local property owners and quality builders.

In 1962 when 'slum clearance' had and was taking place in the town, Ernie purchased two cottages that stood here – numbers 52 and 53 Whiting Street. They were in a dilapidated condition. The price paid was an astonishing £40 and £60.

Ernie employed a local architect to draw up plans for the work ahead and contemplated running in tandem the reconstruction along with his own work for the family business.

A short while later, Watson’s timber yard, in Southgate Street, asked Ernie if he would undertake the demolition of two cottages Watson's owned in Maynewater Lane. Ernie agreed free demolition in exchange for the building materials, knowing exactly where to use them!

Decision made, work started in Whiting Street, taking six years to complete. The existing door was found in a cellar and reused. Also found were six wells in the garden.

The wonderful pargeting – 12 signs of the zodiac – was carried out by Ernie’s then wife, Carol.

When it came to having the building work signed off by the council there was a major problem . . . what was in front of the council official bore no resemblance to the submitted drawings! A rather glib remark followed: “Well, you will have to take it down.”

“Like hell,” was Ernie’s reply, “that’s over five years of my life there; I’ll take it to appeal.”

This he did. The inspector came from London, took one look at number 52 (only one house by then) and said: “Why can’t the rest of the street look like this?”

Enough said. Ernie lived here for about 10 years and, after a few years of rental, sold it in the late 1980s.

A somewhat amusing postscript to this narrative concerned an informative book on Bury St Edmunds by Frank Meeres, published in 2002, in which he describes Zodiac House in the caption to his photograph as an example of Suffolk Pink – the trouble was, his photograph was black and white.

Martyn Taylor is a local historian, author and Bury Tour Guide. His latest book, Going Underground: Bury St Edmunds, is widely available.