Description

757/0/10096 GEORGE STREET
31-OCT-08 (North side)
51

GV II
House and shop. House is early C19, originally a single property with No. 6 Burdett Court; the shop is late C19 and of lesser interest. The house is not visible from street level behind the projecting shopfront.

MATERIALS: The shopfront is rendered. The house is of red brick in header bond to the south east or principal front, part diaper brickwork in Flemish bond to the south west elevation and the remainder of the front is of painted brick to the ground floor and tile-hung in concrete tiles above. The north end is of Flemish bond brickwork. The front of the roof has been re-covered in asbestos slates with tall brick chimneystack with moulded cap to the west. The rear part of the roof is covered in slates.

PLAN: The house is a narrow rectangle of two storeys and attics with two bay frontage which was originally of three bays with No. 6 Burdett Court. The side entrance is approached by a side passage or twitten. The staircase is in the centre of the west side of the building. There are two principal rooms to ground and first floors and one room in the attic.

EXTERIOR: The principal front facing south east is of two storeys brick with parapet with coping and is mainly in header bond, apart from some C20 repairs near the coping. There are two early C19 twelve-pane sash windows. The third window, originally part of the same house, belongs to No. 6 Burdett Court. The centre of the ground floor was removed when the shop front was added. Projecting forward on the ground floor is the shopfront which is rendered and gabled with a simple shopfront. The south west side elevation southern part is of diaper brickwork in Flemish bond with grey headers. The windows are C20 casements but two windows on the ground floor are probably in original openings. Adjoining to the centre is a section of painted brick on the ground floor with a projecting tile-hung gable above, in concrete tiles, with an attic storey. This part has probably been re-pitched to provide an attic storey. The ground floor window is an early C19 six-pane sash.

To the rear, north west, is an extension (in place by 1852) of painted brick on the ground floor and Flemish bond brickwork above. The east side of the extension has a cambered opening with replaced window and simple doorcase with flush-panelled doors; the north side has a gable and C20 windows.

INTERIOR: The ground floor shopfront contains no features of interest. The rear part, probably originally service rooms to the house has two alcoves in the eastern wall. The first floor is accessed by a staircase in the centre of the south west side. This is a semi-winder staircase with stick balusters, column newel and boarded panelling. The first floor rooms do not retain any original fittings but there are thin partition walls abutting No. 6 Burdett Court. There is a narrower winder staircase between the first floor and the attic. The attic bedroom has a sloping roof and two early C19 built-in cupboards. There are a number of four-panelled doors.

HISTORY: This house was originally built in the early C19 as a single house with the adjoining No. 6 Burdett Court which has the third first floor sash window on the principal front. There is a flying freehold between the two properties. The 1852 Ordnance Survey Sheet shows that No. 51 George Street and No. 6 Burdett Place were in separate ownership by this date. A passageway is shown to the west of No. 51 and to the north, rising steeply up West Hill, is shown a large garden. The garden is depicted stretching across the width of both properties with meandering paths, flights of steps and probably a summer house at the northern extremity which would have had a good sea view. By the 1875 Ordnance Survey map the northern part of the garden has a large rockery shown and the summer house appears to have been demolished. It is recorded that during the Second World War there were two bomb strikes on George Street and the building is likely to have received some damage, possibly including the parapet.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
* It forms about two thirds of an early C19 house of which the remaining part which included one third of the principal front, No. 6 Burdett Court, is listed grade II.
* The principal front has unusual header bond brickwork and the other sides have attractive diaper brickwork and some original sash windows remain.
* The interior retains simple early C19 joinery including winder staircases with column newelposts, plank panelling, four-panelled doors and cupboards.
* It has group value with a number of listed buildings within Hastings Old Town Conservation Area.

Reasons for Listing

No. 51 George Street is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It forms about two thirds of an early C19 house of which the remaining part, which included one third of the principal front, is already listed (No. 6 Burdett Court).
* The exterior front has unusual header bond brickwork and the other sides have attractive diaper brickwork and some original sash windows remain.
* The interior retains simple early C19 joinery including winder staircases with column newelposts, plank panelling, four-panelled doors and cupboards.
* It has group value with a number of listed buildings within the Old Town Conservation Area.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672166

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

• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)