51, FLEETGATE (See details for further address information)

House and shop in Barton upon Humber, medieval in origin with substantial later alterations. The building forms part of a continuous frontage with its neighbours.

The front range dates from the 14th century, with timber framing visible to the rear (west) wall. This was rebuilt in the mid-18th century across the front elevation, and a shopfront was added in the late 19th century. The rear (west) wing contains 15th-century timber framing with later stacks and floors. The front is finished in brick, rendered and incised in imitation of ashlar, with brick stacks (the front range stack is also rendered). The rear wing displays a full timber frame of two bays with brick infill, rendered to the south side and west gable end. Both sections have pantiled roofs throughout.

The plan consists of three rooms with a single shop room to the front and a passage leading into the rear wing, flanked by a stack to the left and a larder and staircase to the right, which access the two rear rooms: the parlour to the rear left and the kitchen to the rear right.

The front elevation is two storeys with one first-floor window. The late 19th-century shopfront has a recessed part-glazed panelled door to the right and a plate-glass window to the left with smaller panes above, all set in a wooden surround with pilasters and an entablature featuring a plain frieze, carved brackets above the pilasters, and a moulded cornice. A 3-light horizontal sliding sash window lights the first floor. A closely-dentilled brick eaves cornice runs along the top, with an end stack positioned to the right.

The rear wing has two first-floor windows. A small lean-to on the left contains a board door to the kitchen with a plain barred window to its right. A 16-pane sliding sash serves the parlour on the right. The first floor has a 12-pane sliding sash to the left and a 2-light sliding sash to the right, one light retaining original leaded panes with six panes in the other. A large external gable stack of two builds rises from the rear wing, with a massive ridge stack marking the junction between the rear wing and front range.

The north side of the rear wing exposes two bays of timber framing at first-floor level, featuring a central wall post, first-floor bressummer, wall plate, vertical studs, and a straight brace running from the bressummer to the west corner post. The five panels of the west bay retain medieval brick-on-edge infill, with three still partly covered in original plaster; the larger central panel contains 18th-century brick infill and was probably originally a window opening. The four exposed panels of the east bay have 18th and 19th-century brick infill. Cracks in the render to the south wall and gable end reveal the positions of further timbers.

Interior features include a mid-18th-century fireplace in the front shop room with a mantelpiece displaying fluted frieze and dentilled cornice. Exceptionally, the ceiling is papered with a series of late 19th-century advertisements for Lloyd's Newspaper, including domestic scenes and a London railway station. The parlour contains a mid to late 17th-century ovolo-moulded beam and a late 19th-century cast-iron fire range. The kitchen features exposed ceiling joists, a stone sink, and a brick-built boiler. A winding staircase with a larder beneath connects the floors. In a cupboard beside the stack at the top of the stairs, an exposed section of heavy timber framing of 14th-century character survives, comprising a wall post and pair of curved up-braces to the wall plate, representing part of a former rear wall to the front range.

The wing's framing represents a former open hall, probably dating between the mid-15th and early 16th centuries. Partition walls inserted into the former central open truss of the two rear bedrooms allow the tops of two large arch braces to be seen in the door heads. Other timber framing sections are indicated by irregularities in the wall surfaces.

The wing roof is a pegged oak crown-post roof with single butt-purlins. The west bay survives virtually intact; the east bay has been rearranged to accommodate an inserted stack. Both crown posts have jowled heads, single slightly-curved up-braces to the collar purlin, and straight down-braces to the tie beams. The collar purlin and up-braces carry plain chamfers. In the west truss, panels below the down-braces contain brick infill: original brick-on-edge to the north and later 17th or 18th-century brick to the south. The east truss, formerly open below, has chamfered principal rafters and retains a large fragment of original lath and plaster infill beside the crown post. The collar purlin continues into the stack, but no mortise for an up-brace to the collar purlin exists on this side of the crown post. Original rafters in the east bay have been shortened to accommodate the stack, and the roof has been reset at a lower level to the east of it, where one pair of rafters retains its collar; the other rafters all have slots for now-missing collars. The front range has an 18th-century clasped purlin roof.

This is an important building, notable for its multi-period survivals and lack of modern alteration. It represents the most complete example of a medieval town house in South Humberside and stands among very few such buildings in Lincolnshire and Humberside outside Lincoln and Beverley. The timber framing reveals stylistic links with examples formerly known in Hull (all now demolished) and surviving buildings in York. The series of 19th-century newspaper advertisements in the shop, formerly a barber's shop, is probably a unique survival.