6 & 8 St Martins and 17 New Street, Leicester, City of Leicester

Summary

A range of town houses dating to the second half of the C18, later altered, subdivided and extended and, in 2019, remodelled internally to form a number of small accommodation units.

Description

A range of town houses dating to the second half of the C18, later extended and sub-divided, and, in 2019, comprehensively remodelled internally.

MATERIALS: the range of buildings is constructed of red brick with stucco dressings. The hipped roof has a slate covering and incorporates tall brick chimneys, one with three circular shafts.

PLAN: the range of buildings is linear in form with advanced sections at both ends, the western end more pronounced, as it forms the return elevation of no 17 New Street.

EXTERIOR: the building is a near symmetrical continuous range of three storeys, and eleven bays. The advanced east end section is of a markedly different eclectic architectural style, dating to the second half of the C19. It is one and a half bays in length, the half bay set back at first and second floor level to the frontage line of the longer ten-bay section to the west. It stands beneath a steeply-pitched Dutch gable, flanked by ball finials which form the terminal elements of shallow, full-height pilasters framing the margins of the gabled frontage. The entrance doorway located on the left side has a seven-panel door set below a segmental-arched overlight with glazing bars extending from a central lozenge. To the right are two tall window openings with sash frames, separated by shallow brick pilasters. The windows have shallow segmental arched heads and moulded brick aprons. Above, set on a dentilled brick band is a five-light canted and transomed oriel window, with small-paned lights above the transoms. Above, a string course and then a wide three-light window below a basket-arch head and hood mould with decorative stops. The half bay to the right has a ground-floor opening and sash frame matching those to the left, the set-back section above fronted by a short parapet. The two upper floors have narrow versions of the window openings to the main range.

To the right, the remaining ten bays with pedimented doorways at bays four and eight, each with a lugged architrave surround and a four-panel door, the doorway to bay eight with a shallow rectangular overlight. The window openings to all floors sit beneath brick segmental arches with stucco keystones. The ground and first-floor windows have six-over-six pane sash frames whilst the shallower upper floor windows have three-over-three pane frames with inward pivoting lower sections. This window pattern extends into the north and east elevations of the advanced west end bay, but the return elevation on New Street has a single window opening to the ground floor together with a blocked opening, four windows to the first floor and a single upper floor window, all plainer versions of the main frontage windows. There is a wide central doorcase set below a deep cornice, with a half-glazed door set between narrow sidelights flanked by slender timber columns with Egyptian-style capitals. The rear elevation of the complete range is of a far more varied architectural character, with extensions of different forms added at different periods, including two at the centre of the range with slightly curved frontages which incorporate wide window openings presumably designed to give views over now-vanished rear gardens.

INTERIOR: the interior of the buildings have been heavily altered, firstly by C19 and C20 subdivision, and in 2019 by a comprehensive internal remodelling to create an inter-connected interior extending the length of the building range. The original spatial subdivisions of the town houses have been radically altered as rooms have been sub-divided, and corridors created to achieve permeability. In rooms of varied character and size, original fireplaces have been retained, together with C19 staircases, areas of decorative plasterwork and C19 panelling and joinery but, with the exception of the extensive cellars, the interior of the building is now predominantly C21 in character and appearance. At the time of inspection (January 2019), the remodelling of the interior was underway, and thus the final appearance and content of the interiors could not be accurately recorded.

History

Leicester is one of the oldest settlements in England and its origins can be traced back at least to the Iron Age. There is significant remaining evidence of the Roman settlement, but there is little known of the settlement between the Roman departure and the medieval period.

In the Middle Ages, Leicester became an increasingly important urban centre. William the Conqueror ordered the construction of the first motte and bailey castle in the late C11 and later the settlement became closely associated with Simon De Montfort who became the Lord of the Town in 1281. Leicester became closely linked to the royal family through the earldoms of Leicester and Lancaster, which were joined under one person, Robert Beaumont, in the late C14. This led to further expansion and prosperity in the late-middle and early-modern periods.

The town also became a focus for religious devotion, with an area next to the Castle known as the Newarke, being the location for a collegiate church as well as other religious centres. After his death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the body of King Richard III was brought to the town and buried in the church of the Greyfriars, a Franciscan abbey which tradition has it had been founded by De Montfort in the late C13. The church of Greyfriars was destroyed in 1538, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The site was sold and a manor house built with an associated estate. Both the monastic buildings and the location of Richard’s tomb were lost by the late C17. The former Greyfriars precinct was later divided with a new thoroughfare, called New Street, laid north-south across it. The present street plan continues to reflect that of the medieval borough, although street names have changed, and the boundaries of the precinct remain largely legible.

Throughout the early C18 the two parts of the estate were gradually parcelled and sold for development. Later, the wider Greyfriars estate was developed, primarily as residences for the professional and polite classes. Industrial buildings, particularly those associated with hosiery manufacture appeared at the edges of the area and are shown on the 1888 map of the area. Latterly the area became the legal centre for Leicester and many of the buildings were converted into offices. The manor house was demolished in 1872 although its garden remained unencumbered of development, as did that of 17 Friar Lane. Both became car parks in the C20.

Leicester itself became an industrial centre following the construction of the Grand Union Canal, which linked the town to London and Birmingham at the end of the C18. By 1800 the population had reached over 17,000 and continued to grow throughout the C19. The first railway arrived in the 1830s and Leicester was linked to the mainline network by the 1840s. Significant industrial expansion followed, including textiles, hosiery and footwear, and this period of expansion saw many surviving buildings from earlier periods in the Greyfriars area either replaced or refaced in brick, alongside the construction of several large C19 schools.

Although the city faced significant economic and social challenges in the C20 it remains a vibrant urban centre and is now known as one of the most culturally diverse cities in Britain. The Greyfriars area has been the focus of international attention and economic investment since the remarkable discovery of the remains of King Richard III under a council car park in 2012 and his re-burial in the Cathedral in 2015. Extensive research and archaeological investigation following these events has led to the scheduling of the former monastic site in 2017 (see List entry 1442955) and the renaming of the Guildhall/Cathedral Conservation Area as the Greyfriars Conservation Area.

The building range comprising nos 6 and 8 St Martins and no 17 New Street is thought to have been built in the second half of the C18, and illustrate the re-development of various parts of the Greyfriars area, including the area on the south side of St Martins, close to the Cathedral Church of St Martins. These substantial town houses later underwent alteration and sub-division, and in 2019 were in single ownership and remodelled internally to create smaller accommodation units.

Reasons for Listing

6 & 8 St Martins and 17 New Street are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* they are a prominent and architecturally-distinguished range of town houses.

Historic interest:

* they are located within a significant historic townscape, developed along the northern edge of the precinct to the C13 Franciscan friary known as Greyfriars and make a notable contribution to its rich architectural character and historic evolution.

Group value:

* they are surrounded by many designated assets with which they have strong group value, especially the scheduled Greyfriars to the south, the Grade II-listed 16 New Street to the west, and the Grade II-listed 4 St Martins to the east.

External Links

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