23 and 24 Fore Street, Redruth, Cornwall

Summary

Two houses with commercial units on the ground floor; probably early-C18, altered.

Description

Two houses with commercial units on the ground floor; probably early-C18, altered.

MATERIALS: uncoursed granite rubble construction, with a slate-hung front elevation above the ground floor (except the western end, which is rendered); that to number 23 is Delabole slate. Pitched slate roofs. Timber windows.

PLAN: U-shaped plan formed by the front range and long rear wings to each building; that to the east is slightly skewed, following the line of the burgage plot. There is an ope (through-passage) between them.

EXTERIOR: the buildings are constructed over three storeys and across three window bays on the front (south) elevation. Central on the ground floor is an ope, leading to Symon’s Terrace, which is flanked by late-C20 shopfronts. That on the left (number 23) projects with a flat roof, to the first floor there is a blocked window, and to the second floor a 12-pane sash window. Number 24 has two 12-pane sash windows to the second floor.

At the rear (north) of both buildings are long, slightly-lower wings. These appear to comprise two phases of construction but were in place before 1825. The southern part to number 23 is three-storeyed with a blocked doorway at the ground floor and two windows above, all under timber lintels with stopped roll-moulding, with a further inserted window to the top floor. The northern part is two-storey and four bays with uneven fenestration on both floors; the windows on the ground floor are blocked and those above are six-over-six sash windows. The southern part of the wing to number 24 is two-and-a-half storeys and two bays, with scattered fenestration and a central doorway all with granite lintels, and gabled half-dormers. The part to the north has three sash windows on the first floor, each with three-over-three vertical panes, and blocked openings on the ground floor. At the far end of the wing is is a single-storey outshut and a late-C20 external staircase. Attached to the rear of number 24 between the wings is a slate-roofed pentice to the first floor, and a three-light casement under the eaves.

INTERIOR: the ground-floor commercial unit to number 24 comprises a long front section, stepping up to the rear to a further space adjacent to the staircase wall, and through a short corridor to three small rooms at the rear. The spaces were refitted in the early-C21, but behind the wall-linings, and as evident in an exposed panel on the east wall, the walls are granite rubble. The upper floors are accessed via an external door about halfway along the rear wing. An early-C21 timber staircase leads up to the first floor which comprises two spaces to the south and north, and a smaller space occupying the pentice above the ope. In 2022 the spaces were being refitted, but historic timbers including diagonal braces, and elements of horizontal timber boarding and lath and plaster on the west wall, survive behind the modern stud-walling frames. A C19 timber staircase, located to the south of the pentice room, leads to the second floor, with the attic of the rear wing is located on its north side. The roof of the wing has pegged trusses and tie beams, and clasped purlins.

The interior of number 23, above the shop unit, is reported to have been heavily altered, and it is thought that the entire interior of the top floor of the frontage building has been removed. No information is available about the interior here or that of the rear wing.

History

Redruth town and its market developed from the C14 focused at what is now the crossroads at the west end of Fore Street, and the cigar-shaped marketplace further east on Fore Street influenced the late-medieval town’s plan as burgage plots grew up around it. The commercial significance of Redruth developed throughout the C18 and C19 as the town became an administrative and financial hub for the mining industry, and by the late-C19 had a great reputation for its shopping facilities.

23 and 24 Fore Street are first shown on an 1825 mining map of Redruth where, within one burgage plot, they comprise a roughly L-shaped building to the west with a smaller attached building to the rear (number 23), and a long building to the east, again with a rear building attached (number 24); there was probably a street entrance to a rear yard. An 1854-1855 Board of Health map shows the two buildings either side of an ope (the Cornish term for a through-passage) leading to Symon’s Court behind. Each building has a small front room, with a larger long room behind, and then service buildings to the rear; that to the east is labelled ‘wareroom’ and one within the range to the west ‘carpentry’. Each also had a walled yard at the rear. Historic trade directories record that the buildings housed a range of commercial businesses; for example the directories of 1856 and 1866 record that number 24 was owned by Charles Truscott Vivian, a hatter and tailor who also lived there with his family, and in 1873 it was being used as a temperance hotel owned by Bennett Opie. Census records also suggest that number 23 may have been unoccupied, apart from a ground-floor shop. A photograph dated 1898 shows two businesses occupying the site: Opie’s dining rooms, and a milliner at number 23. The front of the building is shown to be slate hung, with one sash window on each floor of number 23, and two sash windows on each floor of number 24, and both properties have a projecting shopfront. There is a chimney stack to the western gable.

The buildings were externally altered throughout the C20, including the removal of the chimney stack, and many alterations and reconstructions of the shopfronts. A photograph dated 1930 shows a different shopfront to number 24, which appears to have resulted in the loss of the two first-floor windows. Internally there have also been several phases of alterations to accommodate various changes of use, including the conversion of a rear first-floor office at number 24 to a residential flat, and the removal and repositioning of the staircase between the ground and first floors. When the buildings were first listed in 1989 it was noted that number 23 had several historic features including narrow beams with stopped roll-moulding; a square chamber fireplace with stop-chamfered surround; and (lying loose) a three-flight section of the balustrade of a former open-well staircase, with closed string, square newels, and a broad moulded handrail. In 2022 the upper floors of the two buildings were vacant.

Reasons for Listing

23 and 24 Fore Street, Redruth which date to the early-C18 and were altered in the C20, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* despite losses and alterations, the buildings retain early-C18 fabric including in their wall and roof construction.

Historic interest:

* as an uncommon survivor of a pre-C19 building on Redruth’s high street;
* the post-1930s alterations provide evidence of the changing commercial nature of the high street;
* the rear wings flank a passageway, or ope, which reflects the town’s historic street pattern and adds to its character.

External Links

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British Listed Buildings

History in Structure

23 and 24 Fore Street

A Grade II Listed Building in Redruth, Cornwall

Coordinates

Summary

Description

History

Reasons for Listing

External Links

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