Summary

Pair of mid-C18 houses, with a C17 or earlier cellar; altered in the C19 and C20, now commercial premises.

Description

Pair of houses, mid C18 with a C17 or earlier cellar; altered in the C19 and C20, now commercial premises.

MATERIALS: red brick under a terracotta-tiled roof.

PLAN: double-depth rectangular plan with a central entrance and through-passage to the north-east.

EXTERIOR: the building is constructed over two storeys plus an attic, with an earlier stone-built cellar. The principal front is of header-bond red brick with a dentilled eaves cornice; the left side return is rendered. The pitched roof is laid with terracotta tiles, with a brick stack to the right. The main elevation is symmetrical, with a five-window range to the first floor, and on the ground floor paired central doorways beneath a timber canopy on four moulded brackets flanked by canted, timber oriel shop fronts; the left-hand one is early C19 and the right-hand one is a C20 copy. Wide stone steps lead up to the doors. To the right-hand side is a segmental-arched and flagged through-passage. The first floor has gauged brick flat arches with keystones above six-over-six-pane sash windows in exposed frames, with one blocked to the centre. There are two C20 dormers to the attic with terracotta-tile cheeks. Each house extends to the rear under pitched roofs.

INTERIOR: reported by the RCHME to have a central lateral dogleg stair in each house, and an original fitted cupboard with glazed doors and fielded panelled side doors in the front ground-floor room of number 24.

History

The building is also known as Cinnamon House, probably in reference to Cinnamon Lane which runs to its west. The first reference for a building in this location dates to 1665 when King Charles II visited Poole and was welcomed by Peter Hall, a wine cooper. The event was described in 1948 (Smith, see Sources) when it was noted that Hall’s house, on the site of 24 and 26 High Street, had been ‘old and stone-built’, although a stone-walled cellar beneath still survived. Documentary sources later suggest that the building was occupied by a baker in 1751, and from 1761 there may have been two houses on the site. This may be the date of the current building. The meaning of the ‘circa 1692’ date painted on a blocked window on the front of the building is therefore undetermined. The ground floor appears to have been in commercial use since the mid or late C19, and a historic photograph shows that there was once a through-passage on both sides of the building.

Reasons for Listing

24 and 26 High Street, Poole are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* the building retains its mid C18 envelope and earlier-C17 fabric in the cellar is believed to survive;
* for its handsome street frontage with attractive paired doorway and oriel shopfront windows.

Historic interest:
* as an example of the development of Poole in the C18, following on from early flourishing times as a merchant town.

Group value:
* with the Grade II-listed numbers 28 and 28a High Street which are contemporaneous in date.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26512197

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)