Nos. 20, 22, 24 and 24A High Street

This row comprises four former timber-framed buildings originally constructed in the 16th century as shops with domestic accommodation above. They have undergone alterations and additions in the 18th, 19th, 20th and early 21st centuries. The stone walling at the rear of Nos. 22 and 24 has been identified as the north wall of a mid-14th century charnel house.

Materials and Construction

The buildings are of brick construction (Nos. 20-24 are plastered) with tiled roofs and brick chimney stacks. The rear wall to Nos. 22 and 24 comprises mid-14th century coursed stone rubble, now painted.

Layout

The four buildings form an irregular row aligned east to west on the south side of the High Street. Each was originally of a single room depth, but all have been enlarged at the rear with a range of single- and two-storey additions related to commercial use.

Exterior

Nos. 20 to 24A form an irregular row now consolidated as three shop units. All are of two storeys. No. 20 is set back from the building line of the other three buildings, while No. 24A has a lower ridge line than Nos. 22 and 24. Nos. 20 to 24 are rendered with plaster whilst No. 24A is of painted brick.

No. 20 has a deep parapet, a vestigial reminder of it once being a three-storey building, with a flat roof behind. On the first floor are two six-over-six sash windows in flush cased frames with moulded architraves, of which the right-hand window architrave partly extends into the façade of No. 18. A moulded platband runs beneath the windows. The ground floor has a late 20th-century shopfront which also extends across the ground floor of No. 22. It features a panelled stall riser, plate glass windows and a deep fascia set between the consoles of fluted pilasters. A fluted central post marks the original division between Nos. 20 and 22.

The first floor of No. 22 has a six-over-six sash window with stone lintels and plain reveals, now plastered. No. 24 has an early 21st-century shopfront with a plate glass window set between plain pilasters supporting a shallow fascia. A six-panelled door sits to the left-hand side of the shop window. Above, the first floor has an identical sash to that at No. 22. Both Nos. 22 and 24 have a dentilled cornice, partially hidden by a late 20th-century uPVC gutter, and late 20th-century/early 21st-century hanging shop signs. Tile work patches in the roof of these two buildings indicate the former positions of 19th-century dormers.

No. 24A has a late 19th-century shopfront to the ground floor with a two-light shop window and recessed entrance set between plain, narrow pilasters with plain capitals, beneath a shallow fascia. The first floor has a late 19th-century canted oriel of 1:1:1-lights and the attic has a 20th-century dormer with a three-light casement. Partially hidden by a late 20th-century uPVC gutter is a cogged eaves cornice.

Rear Elevation

The rear wall of Nos. 22 and 24 is formed by a two-storey section of mid-14th century stone walling, the surviving north wall of a former charnel house associated with the medieval parish cemetery which lay immediately to the south. It has a large, blocked, arched window opening with a simple chamfer moulding and straight-sided jambs, sitting on the boundary of the two buildings at first floor level. To the right-hand side of the window is a jagged section of stonework which probably indicates the position of the return (east) wall of the charnel house.

Projecting from No. 24 is a smaller, two-storey, brick-built extension of 18th-century date, which was extended in the 19th century to encompass No. 22, probably when both buildings were jointly used as a tea room. Nos. 22 and 24 both have 20th-century extensions, two-storey and single-storey respectively.

No. 24A has a two-storey, cross-wing addition of 18th-century date with a mono-pitch roof. Its ground floor is painted and is largely of brick, but with some stone, perhaps reused from the earlier monastic boundary wall. At first floor level there is a large, 20th-century, canted oriel of 1:2:1-lights.

Interior

The ground floors of Nos. 20 and 22 comprise a single shop unit with a late 20th-century suspended ceiling concealing any evidence of an earlier ceiling structure. At the rear a small section of mid-14th century walling is visible. The first-floor rooms have been opened out for storage, but their height and proportions suggest they date from an 18th-century remodelling, with a roughly finished timber ceiling beam built out on a brick corbel believed to be of this date. A probable 16th-century cross beam is partly concealed in the party wall with No. 18.

The ground floor of No. 24 largely contains late 20th-century fixtures and fittings relating to its current use as a butcher's shop. Its first floor, now amalgamated with that of No. 24A, has a high ceiling, again probably representative of an 18th-century remodelling. Two window splays are visible on the front (north) wall, one either side of the current 19th-century sash, and probably represent a single earlier window, or two narrow window openings, possibly of 18th-century date. They have both been retained as recesses and fitted out with shelves. The rear (south) wall incorporates the chimney breast, with the outline of the former fireplace visible in the centre. On its west side is a small cupboard recess. Running through the centre of the room is a cased cross beam.

The first floor of No. 24A, with high ceilings suggestive of an 18th-century date, is subdivided by 20th-century stud partition walls into two rooms with a small lobby area at the top of a winder staircase. Originally of a single room, two 16th-century cross beams are visible in the party walls while a 16th-century lateral beam runs across the width of the building, originally dividing the 16th-century room in two. All three beams are chamfered with diagonal step stops. Where the cross beams meet the front (north) wall they have residual mortises partly visible indicating the former position of jowled posts. The cut back remains of the lap-dovetail joint that would have connected the beam to a wall plate is also visible. Both cross beams have secondary timbers attached to their sides, possibly added for reinforcement in the 18th century, when the timber-framed north façade was replaced with brick.

A doorway in the stud partition wall between Nos. 24 and 24A allows access between the two buildings at this level. The stud wall has a wider plinth level which rises to a height of about 0.8 metres. As this is out of alignment with the stud wall above, sitting directly underneath the cross beam next to the partition, it probably indicates that the plinth is part of an earlier dividing wall between the two buildings. To the south of the current doorway, an earlier blocked doorway is visible in the partition wall in the stairwell.

On the ground floor of No. 24A, the winder staircase to the first floor is now blocked, but is believed to be of stone construction. A blocked, wide and slightly arched opening in the east wall of No. 24 indicates that Nos. 24 and 24A were once opened up to each other.

The attic of No. 24A has a 19th-century sling-brace truss sitting roughly centrally within the room. Its base support sits on top of the exposed timber floorboards and is fixed with nails to an earlier ceiling joist which runs out underneath them. The truss comprises an interrupted tie beam which runs out from the wall plate and is tenoned into the sling brace. The brace itself rises into the plaster ceiling so its relationship with any possible collar cannot be seen.

Pursuant to section 1(5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, it is declared that the late 20th-century suspended ceiling to the ground floor of Nos. 20 and 22 is not of special architectural or historic interest.