Summary

A building of possible early- to mid-eighteenth century date with a later re-fronting; it has been extended in several phases during the nineteenth century.

Description

A building of possible early- to mid-C18 date with a later re-fronting; it has been extended in several phases during the C19. The shopfront dates to the late C20 or early C21.

MATERIALS: stuccoed front elevation with clay tile roof and timber windows.

PLAN: the building has a narrow frontage and deep plan with a single room on first and attic floors, extended at the rear.

The first floor is reached through a stair in 40 High Street and the attic floor reached via a stair to the rear of 39 High Street (shared with 40 High Street). First-floor WCs are in a small, probably C19, addition accessed jointly between 40 and 39 High Street.

EXTERIOR: the building has two storeys with an attic. Its frontage is one bay wide and stuccoed with a shaped gable. The first-floor window is a tall, wide, horizontally orientated tripartite opening with a central hopper light. The attic is lit by a two-over-two sash window in the gable. At ground floor level is a late C20 or early C21 shopfront with recessed entrance to the left. There is a stack at the centre of its west flank wall. To the rear is a two-storey extension with a pentice roof and a flat-roofed, single-storey extension in-filling the remainder of the plot.

INTERIORS: openings in the party wall on the first and attic floors connect 39 with 40 High Street. The first floor is lined out with modern finishes and the attic floor with painted butt-and-bead vertical plank panelling. An attic fireplace has a simple late-C19 stone chimneypiece and the remnants of a cast iron fireplace, probably of around 1900. The roof structure is currently exposed to the underside of the tiles (inspected 2024) and comprises paired rafters with collars, staggered purlins and no ridge piece.

History

39 High Street is possibly of early- to mid-C18 date with a later re-fronting; it was subsequently extended to the rear in several phases during the C19.

The building was in joint retail occupation with its neighbour to the east, 40 High Street, for almost 100 years from at least 1879 to 1960. The two addresses were occupied by H J Goulden Ltd, a stationer, bookseller and manufacturer of pianofortes, first established by Charles Goulden in Canterbury in 1840. 40 High Street was in the Goulden family from 1867, with 39 High Street acquired by 1879 and serving as the firm’s piano showroom. The building’s unusually large first-floor window lit the pianoforte showroom and can be seen in photos of the building about 1900. In addition to printing and bookbinding, the business owned various Kent newspapers, including the Kentish Gazette until 1905. Novelist Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) was a customer, the company printing some of his works and supplying him with stationery. The business closed in 1960.

In the second half of the C20 the two addresses were occupied independently and jointly by various businesses. The ground floors of the buildings are currently occupied (2025) as separate commercial units but remain interconnected on the first and second floors.

Reasons for Listing

39 High Street, Canterbury is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an C18 building with later phases relating to its longstanding commercial and retail use;

Historic interest:

* as part of the urban development of Canterbury’s ancient core;

Group value:

* as one of many buildings, some listed at a high grade, which contribute to Canterbury’s rich, historic commercial streetscape.

External Links

• Wikidata Q26533659

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.

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