Hanover House

Hanover House

High Street, Cromer. Commercial premises and flats, formerly a house or houses. The building has origins around 1500, with substantial work from the 18th and 19th centuries and 20th century alterations. It is built of red brick with stone dressings, and has a 20th century tile roof with coped gables with kneelers and truncated end stacks. Some flint and brick work to the rear is partly rendered and colourwashed.

The complex rises to three storeys with a cellar, and two storeys to the rear range. It comprises a main range facing High Street with wings extending to the rear and a rear range—possibly originally a hall and crosswing—forming a courtyard plan with the space at first floor level roofed over flat. The main front to High Street shows a three-window range at first floor, probably of late 18th century date, though the ground floor has late 20th century character and the upper floors display mid-19th century features. Two large sashed bays with curved corners containing curved glass flank a central 2/2 sash set beneath a gauged brick flat arch with slightly projecting keystone. The second floor has three similar but lower sashes with comparable flat arches. Above runs a cornice of carved stone brackets and moulded brick with kneelers at the ends, which rise above stone quoins. The ground floor has two 20th century shop fronts and a central door leading to stairs serving the upper floors.

The rear elevations, facing a car park, include a projecting gable and lean-to to the left and centre, with a set-back main range to the right where the higher rear wings of the front range are visible. The facing gable has two 6/6 unhorned sashes at first floor over a door and two small 20th century windows. The central doorway has a curved overlight, 20th century door, and flat hood on heavy moulded brackets. A mullion and transom window appears on the lean-to inner return, with a 6/6 sash on the main range first floor and small lean-tos beneath. The flint walling has red brick dressings. Where the gable end terminates before the boundary, the end of a front range rear wing is visible, showing at first floor a round-arched 19th century window with stained and painted glass margin lights.

Interior

The ground floor has predominantly late 20th century character, but the rear of the left-hand section retains a blocked large fireplace and probably 19th century leaded light windows, now internal. The cellar, accessed from this section by a substantial walkway and stair, contains chamfered bridging beams and wooden joists, brick pillars, and much whitewashed rough stone walling. On the ground floor right-hand side, elements of a ceiling dating to around 1500 were discovered in 1981. Though now covered again, photographs record very fine moulded joists and beams with moulded wall plates.

The first floor front contains two large reception rooms with elaborate 19th century ornamental frames to the bay windows, high skirting boards, and moulded plaster cornices and ceiling roses. A 19th century stair to the right from first floor to second has heavy turned newels and a balustrade with turned balusters. Behind this is a room with an 18th century fireplace and wall cupboards with raised and fielded panel doors. Eighteenth century 2-panel doors lead to the rear room facing the car park, where windows have seats with raised and fielded panelling. Facing the internal yard are early to mid-19th century sash windows, including two with unusual slight bows.

Historical Development

This complex is shown in a probably early 18th century view of Cromer now held at Felbrigg Hall, where the rear wing then displayed a characteristic Dutch gable, a feature that persisted into the 19th century. During building works in 1935, an old bath was discovered under basement floorboards, surrounded by hand-made red bricks. The bricks, made from red clay spread on straw and cut to size (with marks of the cutter visible on edges), were accompanied by a few blue and white tiles decorated with pictures of a Dutch Mill, estimated to be 150 to 200 years old. The bath had an outlet fitted with a large wooden plug, draining into an old well found at the corner of the room—35 feet deep, constructed of large beach flints with a brick-built top.

In 1981, beyond the discovery of the ceiling, part of an original gable end wall was found and photographed from the stairway of Shipden House. This revealed a dressed round flint East-West facing outside wall with a moulded brick window head. The courtyard plan complex, dating from the late medieval period, contains early stonework in the cellar and surviving remains of a fine late medieval ceiling on the ground floor, alongside 18th century features and fine mid-19th century decorative elements. It overlooks the church and churchyard and forms part of a significant group of historic buildings in central Cromer, presenting an ensemble with numerous features of interest warranting further research and possible excavation.

Note: The building is shown on Ordnance Survey maps as Hanover House, though it is sometimes known as Shipden House—a name that appears more correctly to apply to the present Budgens Supermarket to the north.