8 and 10, Turk Street

This is an early to mid-15th century timber-framed house located on Turk Street. The building is constructed of timber framing with brick detailing, and the facade is rendered and painted. It has a clay-tile roof. Originally, the house comprised three bays: a central open hall, a parlour to the west (W), and a service bay to the east (E), which was initially divided into two rooms. The hall was later floored, likely in the later 16th century, and the ground floor plan was subdivided by the insertion of narrow service rooms along the rear of the three bays. The house was divided into two dwellings at an unknown date, prior to the 19th century, and is now used as a single residence. Straight-flight staircases connect the east bay to the central bay, and the front to the rear room of the west bay. Some of the original timber framing between the central and north bay has been removed at ground-floor level, and the upper-floor rear rooms have been subdivided. The exterior features modern casement windows. The front (north) elevation has two entrances, with the western entrance featuring a remodelled 17th or early 18th century two-panel door. The roof is hipped with dormers and small gablets, running parallel to the street. Internally, chimneybreasts are situated in the southwest corners of the central and east bays, between the front and rear rooms; the east chimneybreast retains an exposed bressumer. A significant number of original, axially-laid joists remain in the parlour bay, and mortices in the central joist of the service bay indicate that it was originally partitioned into a pantry and buttery. Most of the joinery and fittings are modern. The roof structure is largely intact; the trusses feature curved braces emanating outwards from the tie beam to the principal rafters, with a central strut between the tie and collar beams. Staved partitions remain above the collars; the partition between the central and west bay lacks its original infill. The earliest recorded reference to the site dates to 1328. Winchester College acquired the site in 1480, retaining ownership until 1888. Dendrochronological dating suggests the characteristic "fan" roof trusses, typical of Hampshire, were constructed between 1400 and 1460. This house is of special interest as a well-preserved early to mid-15th century timber-framed hall house, with clearly legible medieval and early post-medieval plans, retaining a substantial amount of original wall framing and roof structure.