26 and 28 St John's Street, Ashbourne, Derbyshire

Summary

26-28 St John’s Street, a building of the late C15, probably originally built as a speculative commercial development of three shop units with associated accommodation. The two ranges that form a rear wing date from the C18 and the C19 respectively. Restored in the late C20.

Description

MATERIALS: an oak timber-framed building with wattle and daub infill panels and a pitched roof covered in plain clay tiles. Brick chimney stack, and brick additions to the rear.

PLAN: two-storey, single pile range, with associated cellarage, originally sub-divided to form three units, now a single unit. To the right-hand side a doorway leads to the side passage that gives access to the rear yard. There is an C18 and a C19 three-bay, two-storey addition to the rear giving the building an overall L-shaped plan.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation has a late C20 shop front, that retains some elements of a C19 shop front (principally pilasters and cornicing). The jettied first floor of close studding (largely renewed) has pairs of arch braces to each bay and wattle and daub infill panels. To the first floor are three inserted six-over six hornless sash windows in exposed sash boxes. To the right-hand end is an inserted brick stack.

To the rear elevation is a central stair bay, possibly C17, now encased by a C19 single-storey lean-to. Extending from the right-hand bay is an C18 and a C19 three-bay, two-storey addition.

INTERIOR: much of the timber-framing is exposed internally with jowled wall posts supporting the wall plates and tie beams with associated braces. To the north-east bay of the ground floor are chamfered axial beams. The widely-spaced vertical struts to the north-east end wall have numerous peg holes which may relate to shelving or panelling. The opposite partition wall partially survives, and additional framing may survive beneath later finishes. To the rear wall of the central bay is a possible C17 doorframe reached by three stone steps. To the left, giving access to the staircase, is a further C17 doorframe with a cambered head. The staircase is largely C20. The vaulted brick cellar retains shallow stone troughs.

The four roof trusses are formed of principal rafters, tie beam, and a cambered collar, with three vertical struts in between. The double row of purlins have wind braces from the principal rafter to the upper purlin. Common rafters may survive above later boarding. The four trusses appear to have always been closed with stone, wattle, and daub infill panels.

History

The building which stands at 26 and 28 St John’s Street dates from the late C15 with dendrochronology confirming that the timbers used in its construction were felled in 1492. The original function of the building is unclear, but the surviving historic building fabric does suggest that it was built as a medieval commercial development of three, single-bay, two-storey units. The ground floor would have had a shop function, with associated cellarage, whilst to the first floor was living accommodation (probably accessed via a ladder) that was jettied to the street elevation and presumably open to the roof. The street elevation would have reflected this arrangement, with corresponding door and window openings.

The building has been altered since, being thought to have functioned as the Roebuck Inn in the C17 before being converted to a bakery in 1805, and it is clear that the street elevation has undergone successive change. The first-floor timber-framed sash windows with exposed sash boxes are an C18 insertion, whilst an early C20 photograph shows the building with two late C19 shop fronts and a rendered first floor, incised to represent blockwork. A photograph, dated 1949, shows that the left-hand shop front was subsequently altered, and half-timbering applied to the first floor. This photograph also includes the inserted C19 brick stack to the right-hand end, but also a stone stack to the left-hand end which has since been removed. By the late C20 a new shop front had been inserted across the ground floor, and the close studding to the jettied first floor revealed.

Internally, the plan form has been altered to form a single unit, but the original sub-division of the property remains visible in the surviving fabric with evidence for partition walls, and the closed roof trusses. The blackening to the roof trusses appears to have been caused by a combination of dirt, water damage, and fire damage, rather than smoke-blackening caused by a hearth in an open hall arrangement, for which there is no evidence.

There is an C18 addition to the rear that incorporates some timber-framing to the ground floor that may relate to an earlier phase. The building was further extended to the rear in the C19. Further C19 additions were demolished in the mid-to late C20.

Reasons for Listing

26 and 28 St John’s Street is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

*     dated to the late C15, it is a rare surviving example of a speculative commercial building of the medieval period;
*     for the legibility of its medieval plan form as three small units and its historic development in the C18 and C19;
*     for the survival of a significant proportion of its historic fabric including most of its original box frame construction with its associated jettied first floor and close studding, its roof structure of four closed roof trusses, and evidence for partition walling.

Historic interest:

* it provides important evidence that contributes to our understanding of medieval urban building types and the associated living and working arrangements of the period.

External Links

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