Pannier Market

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SX 4874 4974 4/156

TAVISTOCK BEDFORD SQUARE (east side) Pannier Market

GV II

Covered market building. 1860's, as part of Bedford Estate Improvements. Hurdwick stone, dressings in granite or in cream brick, slate roofs, some asbestos-cement slate to concealed slopes. A long central hall-surrounded by complete ambulatory; central gabled roof, lower roofs also pitched, returned at ends to slightly canted corners, and to internal valleys. Towards Bedford Square (facing the back of New Hall, q.v.) are two wide doorways to segmental pointed heads in brick dressings with a central stone fountain in arched recess, including shield with 'B' (Bedford) and flanked by windows on splayed corners; the gable of the central hall, above, has three segmental pointed lights to granite lintols set to gable slope, over a central light at lower level.

Left and right sides have five-pane windows at eaves, alternating with segmental headed doors in rhythm three: door: four:door:four: door: three. These windows rectangular five-pane, brick jambs and granite cills. Far end similar to entrance end, but central recessed pointed arch in plain stone without embellishment. Central hall has range of 13 ten-pane windows each side, set to granite lintols (which are identical in profile to the cills of the ambulatory windows): long central roof light in plane of roof. North ambulatory also has three stretches of similar roof light. Small offset plinth all round. Plank doors to openings.

Interior: central hall has 13 bays plus small bay at each end where wall is set on splay. Composite queen post trusses. Clerestory windows above a three-course brick string course, over five-bay arcade of wide pointed segmental arches to large flush granite voussoirs, on plain stone piers. Gable ends have one over three windows. Aisles have composite king-post trusses, alternate trusses springing from corbels at the head of the arcade arches.

Nave gives to westend through two segmental arches but at the east end these, and the ambulatory are blocked off by a temporary concrete block partition. Floors are good squared granite slabs throughout, roof slopes underlined with boarding. Apart from the temporary block partitions, the building is apparently as built; the robust detailing has withstood well over a hundred years of use; market was in progress at the time of inspection (August 1988). The building is enclosed by New Hall (q.v.) to the west, and No 9-18 Duke Street (q.v.) to the north: the latter, with its iron colonnade towards the Pannier Market, dates from 1860, and would appear to be part of the same development.

Listing NGR: SX4821874460