89, 91 & 93 High Street, Andover, Andover, Hampshire

Summary

Former inn, now shops, built by Winchester College in 1445-55. C16 and C17 modifications, façade refronted in brick in the C19; C20 extensions and alterations.

Description

MATERIALS: timber-frame, red brick Flemish bond, hipped tiled roof.

DESCRIPTION: the Angel Inn is a mid-C15 timber-framed, purpose-built, two-storey inn with cellars, and much of this fabric survives although it has been modified over the centuries. The original form of The Angel has been described in some detail by Roberts (1991) using both the C15 contract documents and also analysis of the surviving fabric. In essence the C15 building took the form of a rectangular courtyard-inn with the principal east range along the High Street frontage. The contract indicated that the High Street frontage of The Angel was to be 90ft (27m) and the depth 80ft (24.4m). The bays measure approximately 20ft (6m) deep and 10ft (3m) wide. The historic Angel Inn is now known as The Angel Inn Public House (95 High Street) and Nos 89, 91 & 93 High Street.

EXTERIOR: the façade of 89, 91 & 93 High Street, is of early C19 Flemish bond red-brick encasing the timber frame. Its C19 external form is of six bays with a decorative eaves cornice. It has a tiled roof, which is hipped to the south end, with a stack on the ridge at the junction with No. 95 High Street. The first floor windows are C19 horned six-over-six sashes in exposed frames with rubbed brick flat arches. The ground floor has two inserted modern shopfronts, one occupying the three southern bays and the other the adjoining two bays to the north. The northernmost bay has a classical doorcase with a fluted architrave and a heavily moulded rain hood with a lead roof supported on brackets.

The south elevation is blind and there is a full height brick pier supporting the south-east corner of the building as the adjoining modern building is single storey. The west, courtyard facing, elevation has a large flat-roofed extension to the rear which is modern and not of architectural interest. The first floor is lit to the north by a tile-hung roof dormer with three six-over-six hornless sash windows. To the south are two half-hipped gables with similar windows. The southernmost is the remnant of the former C15 cross-wing although the north gable retains a higher percentage of historic timbers internally.

PLAN & INTERIOR
EAST & SOUTH RANGES: The east range is the hall range, fronting the High Street. Closely spaced mortices in the soffit of the wall-plate are evidence that this elevation was close-studded indicating an expensive and showy original façade, particularly when infilled with early herringbone brick nogging. The northern bay of the east range, comprising the gatehouse and chamber, forms part of the present Angel Inn Public House (95 High Street) and is therefore separately listed. The east range originally comprised three bays to the ground floor, two of which, to the south, formed the hall and were open to the ceiling. To the north, at first floor level, was a two-bay chamber part over-sailing the gateway. This is now sub-divided with the northern half part of No 95 High Street.

The southern part of 89, 91 and 93 High Street is the remnant of the south cross-wing at the east end of the former south range. Parts of three west-east bays survive and the remainder to the rear has been demolished. The original C15 contract indicates that the south range originally echoed the form of the north range (now part of the Angel Inn Public House).

Cellars: cellars are present beneath No 89 (the remains of the former south range) and also below No 93. That to No 89 is stone built in a flinty-rubble material with brick patches and has ashlar piers separating the bays. There are two blocked original windows with ashlar quoins to the east High Street elevation. Also, towards the south-east corner, is a straight joint with ashlar quoins indicating the former position of an original doorway which would have allowed access via steps up to street level. Modern access to the cellar is via steep and narrow brick steps at the south-west corner. In the west wall there is a blocked coal chute. There has been some modern remodelling of the cellar such as the insertion of breeze block partitions and RSJs supporting the ceiling. The cellar to No 93 was only visible through a floor hatch but appeared to be largely brick built to the rear but with further rubble and ashlar construction to the High Street elevation.

Ground floor: little historic fabric is visible within the commercial premises that now occupy the building but the timber-frame is presumed to survive behind modern fascias and decoration. There is no visible historic fabric within the ground floor of No 89. A timber post is visible in the rear (west) wall of No 93. Moulded cross-beams are evident, although heavily painted in Nos 91 and 93, as are some simple cornices. Roberts identified evidence of red and apparently original paintwork on the ground floor timbers of the hall range during renovation works indicating that the interior was originally rather colourful. Although no wattle and daub infill is visible in 89, 91 and 93 High Street, this is also presumed to survive behind modern surfaces as its does to the north in No 95.

First Floor: The first floor of the building (No 93 High Street) is where one can fully appreciate the magnificent exposed C15 timber frame of this part of the former inn. The hall truss is a rare form of scissor braced jointed-cruck with moulded decoration. The trusses at either end of the hall have curved queen struts flanking a central king strut. The partition forming the south end of the hall also serves to subdivide the hall from the south cross-wing beyond. The wind braces and purlins to the hall are chamfered and were therefore intended to be on show. The position of a louvre to allow the escape of smoke from the open hearth below can also be discerned. A chimney stack is present in the north-east corner of the first floor, in what would have been the hall chamber. No fireplace survives. Dark red paint was recorded on a post at the north end of the hall, again suggestive of a former colourful interior.

The roof to the south cross-wing is of queen post construction. The frame indicates that there was a door to the west, at the junction of the hall and cross-wing, perhaps allowing access from the cross-wing to the rear gallery. There is no longer any evidence of a chimney to this chamber but it may be that the fine stone chimney piece recorded by Roberts (2003, 87-9) as having been removed from the upper chamber of 89 High Street in c1970, originated here. This was elaborately carved with flowers and the coat of arms of William of Wykeham (c1324-1404) who was Bishop of Winchester and founder of both Winchester College and New College, Oxford.

NORTH RANGE: the C15 timber-framed north range is part of the Angel Inn Public House and is therefore separately listed.

WEST RANGE: none of this range survives as upstanding fabric but it contained chambers over a stable range with a western gate providing access to the courtyard.

History

The properties now known as 89, 91 & 93 High Street, Andover were historically a part of the Angel Inn which continues to trade as the adjoining Angel Inn Public House at 95 High Street.

In 1434 a fire destroyed much of upper Andover, possibly starting in a Butcher’s shop in White Bear Yard on the High Street, and had a devastating effect on the inhabitants and economy of the town. No timber-framed pre-1435 buildings survived and recovery was slow: nine years later the contract for building The Angel describes the site on the west side of the High Street as ‘void ground’. Winchester College, which had acquired Andover Priory in 1414, began a programme of investment in the town, acquiring fire damaged properties and building new ones. The College accounts for this period survive in its archives and indicate not only the extent of its investment but also particulars of some of the buildings which were constructed including The Angel Inn. Details of the expenditure have been published by John Hare in his article 'Winchester College and the Angel Inn, Andover: a fifteenth-century landlord and its investments' (2005).

The archives tell us that in 1445 a contract was signed between the Warden of Winchester College, one Robert Thurbern, and two carpenters, Richard Holnerst and John Hardyng, to build the college a timber-framed inn in Andover. The documentation is so detailed that the identity of this inn as The Angel has long been established. The period of construction covered by the accounts of the works runs from 1445-55 with the main frame completed in the 1440s but some minor works continuing into the next decade. The painting of the inn sign by John Messyngham of Winchester, completed the work.

The Angel was built at a cost of about £400 (Hare 2005, 189), a very large sum of money for the mid-C15. The King’s carpenter at Eton was consulted on the design and it is clear that the College intended a high specification inn which would attract the upper end of the market in terms of clientele. Andover was an important staging town lying on the London-Salisbury south-west road and also between Southampton and the Midlands. It was also an economic centre, particularly associated with cloth production in the C15. Timber to build the inn was brought from Hannington Wood near Kingsclere, Finkley in Chute Forest near Andover and from Ashmansworth. Tiles came from Mottisfort, Woodhay and Tytherley (all in Hampshire). A smith in Romsey supplied the locks and keys. Caen stone was used to build the cellar windows and steps, Beer stone from Devon was used for foundation walls, and other stone came from Chilmark and Pewsey, Wiltshire. Bricks were also used for the front of the inn, possibly for a plinth, although there is no visible evidence of their survival. An alternative suggested by Roberts (1992) is that given the number of bricks purchased (20,000 bricks bought from one Daniel Brykeman) and the documentary evidence that they were to be used to ‘stop-up’ the front wall of the inn implies an early and therefore high-status and showy use of brick nogging. Fine chimney pieces and stacks were by the mason Thomas Beere. The 'Hampshire Houses' volume (citing Pantin’s 1961 article on 'Medieval Inns') indicates that there are no surviving inns nationally of a date earlier than the late C14 and that none survive in Hampshire before the mid-C15. The Angel is therefore the earliest such survival in Hampshire and probably the most complete example in the county.

As built, The Angel was a courtyard inn, a typical layout of this date. Only the north and east wings survive in full but the courtyard form remains legible. Its east gatehouse was deliberately aligned so that it directly faced the former London Road (now Newbury Street) which was one of the C15 town’s main streets. This necessitated a modification to the plan specified in the original contract whereby the Great Hall, intended for a position north of the gate, had to be constructed to its south. This in turn meant that the function of the rear cross-wings was reversed (according to Warmington) so that the south wing (now demolished) housed stables and kitchens with chambers above and the north wing, stables with guest chambers above. However, there remains the possibility (as suggested by Roberts, 1991) that the original kitchens were actually in a separate and detached block, to the west of the main courtyard inn. There was also a west range completing the courtyard with a west gate. The front (east) range is described as housing the hall, gatehouse, a cellar, parlour above the cellar, and chamber above the parlour. The chamber and parlour appears to have been duplicated in each of the cross-wings at the ends of the range. The archives also indicate that very early in the inn’s life, improvements were being made such as a chimney added in 1457 and stables built next to the west gate in 1469.

Rent records for The Angel in its early years survive and tell us the names of the landlords in the late C15 such as the first landlord, Robert Cusse, then Thomas Fewers, John Waterman, Thomas Love and Edward Chamber. Records suggest that they were men of substance and some standing in the town. Inventories for the Angel also survive including one of 1462 which records furniture and various rooms. Another of 1633 lists the names of its chambers (Half Moon, Cross Keys, Crown, Star, Fawlcon, Rose, Fox, Squirrel and Unicorn) and the wealth of the landlord Richard Pope (Warmington op cit, 9). At this time it had 91 beds and 15 fireplaces (Hare op cit, 191) so was an establishment of some considerable size.

Between the C16 and C18 there were considerable alterations including the addition of a gallery to the rear of the east range. There is a C17 record of the courtyard being paved. In the C18 the building was refronted in brick with a classical broken-bed pediment added above the courtyard east gateway. At this time, the jetties on the high street frontage were removed or bricked in: either the ground floor building line was brought forward to smooth out the façade or the jetties were cut-off to the same effect. A brick in the wall of the north cross-wing, inscribed with the date 1775, suggests a likely date for this remodelling. The south range was detached from the Angel Inn in the C18 and was occupied by a Mr Reynold, carrier. The southern part of the east range was occupied by James Church, carpenter from about 1793. Nos. 89, 91 & 93 High Street were also refronted in brick, possibly at the same time as No. 95 and certainly in a similar manner, although an early C19 date seems more likely on stylistic grounds and given the windows are horned sashes rather than the earlier un-horned examples to No. 95 (now the Angel Inn). A canted bay window to the north range, south elevation is an addition of the C18 or very early C19. A sketch map of 1839 depicts both stables and a kitchen in the north range at that time, also a bar and parlour. The south range still survived and was occupied by stables and a coach house in 1839 and indeed this range was still shown on the 1937 Ordnance Survey map so was demolished in the mid-late C20. Further alterations and additions of the late C19 and C20 are evident including modern single-storey extensions to the rear (west) of the east range.

Information on display in the pub, although not independently verified, suggests that a number of kings and queens stayed or dined at The Angel, including Henry VII, Catherine of Aragon and James II. The front bar was also used as Andover’s Guildhall and magistrates’ court in the 1820s while the town’s Guildhall was being rebuilt.

Reasons for Listing

The building known as 89, 91 & 93 High Street, Andover - a part of the timber-framed courtyard inn, The Angel - is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* Date & Rarity: a mid-C15 timber-framed inn and therefore a rare survival nationally
* Intactness: the timber-frame is remarkably intact and the C15 courtyard plan and internal arrangements remain legible
* Architectural interest: the unusual form of the jointed cruck roof trusses in addition to the original and thus rare stone chimney stacks, and the survival of decorative details are indicators of its quality and the degree of investment in its construction: such features are of more than special interest nationally
* Historical documentation: the very detailed contemporary accounts of the inn’s construction as well as subsequent documentary sources allow a rare appreciation of the construction and operation of this medieval inn

External Links

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