House surveys in Suffolk

Suffolk combines the county town of Ipswich with medieval wool towns, coastal resorts and the market towns of the west. Timber-framed houses with colour-washed render, pargeting and thatch are common in the south and west, especially around Lavenham, Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds, while the coast has Victorian resorts and fishing towns. Much of the county sits on boulder clay, which shrinks and swells, while the west around Newmarket is chalk and the Sandlings near the coast are sandy heath. Survey issues include subsidence, flood risk along the Orwell, Stour and Gipping and on the coast, coastal erosion, and the care of listed timber-framed buildings.