5 Market Place

5 Market Place

A house of probable late 16th-century origin, altered in the 17th and 18th centuries, refronted in the early 19th century, and altered in the 20th century.

The building is constructed of rendered timber framing with a brick frontage (painted) and a roof covering of plain clay tiles of various hues.

The building forms part of a terrace and consists of a front range facing south-west which runs parallel to the market place, and a rear range at right angles to the north-east. Built in the east angle formed by these ranges is an 18th-century wing. An open yard lies to the rear (north-east), with a two-storey range of possibly late 18th or early 19th-century date attached to a range of late 19th-century outbuildings along the south-east side. These are linked to the main ranges by a mid to late 20th-century extension.

The two-storey, five-bay front elevation has a pitched roof with a parapet at the north-west gable and a central, gabled dormer window with timber casements set wholly in the roof space. The ground floor contains a central front door and associated large plate glass window with tiled stall riser in the two bays to the left, all of 20th-century date. The two bays to the right are lit by early 19th-century nine-over-nine pane sash windows in moulded frames. The first floor is lit by four similar windows in bays one, two, four and five which appear to have been shortened. Between the two storeys is a fascia bearing the name of the shop.

The north-east range has a steeply pitched, tile-clad roof. The gable end is lit on the ground floor by a two-light casement window, and a fire escape leads up to the glazed door on the first floor which has a large two-pane window on the right. In the gable head the slight projection of a collar beam is visible under the render. The jettied north-west side has a rebuilt brick ground floor which supports the projecting joists of the jetty.

To the left of the north-east range, the 18th-century brick wing has a steeply pitched roof and is lit on the first floor by an 18th-century six-over-six pane sash in a moulded frame. The ground floor has been subsumed by a flat-roofed 20th-century extension.

Interior

The front range has two rooms on each floor and in the attic, with a central passage running through the ground floor to the rear range. The room to the left (north-west) has modern fittings for frying fish and chips. The room to the right (south-east) has 18th-century square panelling to dado height with a projecting dado rail, panelled embrasures, and a moulded and dentilled cornice. It has a blocked fireplace with a two-panelled cupboard door on the left with HL hinges.

On the first floor of the front range, the south-east room has a chamfered spine beam with stops, an 18th-century two-panelled door with HL hinges, panelled window jambs, and a 1950s tiled corner fireplace. The south section of a cambered tie beam is just visible in the south corner of the room, indicating the original south-eastern end of the building, and in the partition between the two rooms are visible the north and south ends of a further cambered tie beam. The south-west room has a boxed-in spine beam, panelled window jambs, a two-panelled door with L-hinges, and a cupboard with a two-panelled door with L-hinges in which is fitted a 19th-century desk with drawers.

The two attic rooms both have wide floorboards. Underneath those in the south-west room is a cambered tie beam, the higher section of which is exposed. Projecting eastwards, within the floor, is a spine beam with a series of joists. This room has a plank and batten door with strap hinges and a small cupboard with two sections of borrowed lights forming the upper part of the two sides. These sections are formed of a series of splat balusters which may be reused from elsewhere in the building. Between the two attic rooms is a 17th-century elaborately moulded plank and batten door with a door handle and decorative back plate.

A large chimney breast rises through the building between the front and rear ranges. The southern part may date to the late 16th-century phase, and it was then expanded to heat the later 17th-century range.

In the rear (south-east) range the ground-floor room has an exposed moulded spine beam. The room has recently (2014/15) been clad in horizontal timber panels and plastered over but underneath three sides of the room retain 18th-century panelling. This survives with some alteration up to a dado rail with large fielded panels graduating in size with larger panels at the bottom. To the south-east of this room the 20th-century straight flight of stairs retains part of an 18th-century pendant of a newel belonging to the earlier stair. The section of splat balustrade is imitation work. The first-floor room of the rear range has a boxed-in bridging beam and retains two two-panelled doors, one to a cupboard. At the top of the stairs from the first floor to the attic is a small section of 17th-century balustrade consisting of splat balusters and faceted newels which has been repositioned from elsewhere in the house. The attic of the rear range has exposed wall plates, which now sit at an intermediate height, with some studs. The roof structure is concealed by plaster so it is not possible to identify any indications of the original truss form.

The 18th-century rear extension has been converted to a kitchen at ground-floor level. The first-floor room has a large corner fireplace (now boarded) with an ogee moulded mantel shelf, a panelled overmantel, and to the right-hand side a series of small cupboards placed as a column running up the side of the hearth.

Subsidiary Features

The series of late 19th-century, single-storey outbuildings along the south-east side of the plot are constructed of brick, painted overall, with pitched pantile-clad roofs. They are lit by 20th-century windows and provide storage and lavatory facilities. Attached to the north-west side of this range is a two-storey block occupying the north-east end of the plot. This has been heavily altered but has a cogged eaves course suggestive of an early 19th-century date. It is constructed of brick, painted overall, with a pitched pantile-clad roof and brick ridge stack on the right gable end. There is a bricked up doorway on the left, an off-centre door and a 20th-century window, with two 20th-century windows above. Internally, the ground floor contains a large 19th-century fireplace with the remains of a cooking range.