46 and 47 High Street

Summary

Terraced shops with flats above. Built in around the early C19.

Reasons for Designation

46 and 47 High Street are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as early C19 terraced buildings that contribute to the character of an architecturally varied historic streetscape.

Historic interest:

* as part of the urban development of Newport’s historic core.

Group value:

* these terraced shops are in close proximity to a large number of listed buildings and form part of a strong historic grouping.

History

Newport’s first charter was granted by Richard de Redvers, fourth Earl of Devon in the late C12 and this is generally regarded as marking its foundation. The settlement was laid out on the low-lying ground along the western bank of the River Medina using a grid-style plan. Recent topographic analysis suggests that Newport may have developed around an existing informal trading settlement located at the head of the Medina estuary, in the vicinity of Sea and Quay Street (Alexander, 2021). The High Street is one of five east-west running streets within the grid layout. High Street and Pyle Street extend the full length of the grid, divided by a market square, and form the planned core of Newport, with other shorter parallel streets to the south (South Street) and north (Lugley and Crocker Street). They were all largely in place by the mid-C13.

In the C14, the Isle of Wight was frequently subject to raids by French forces during long-running conflicts between England and France. According to historical documents, during one of the raids in 1377 Newport was severely damaged by fire and much of the population fled to Carisbrooke Castle. It appears that Newport was functioning again a few years later. During this century, records indicate that the population of Newport did decrease, most likely due to several wider economic factors, and did not significantly increase until the mid-C17. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1608 under a new charter granted by James I. Newport did not significantly expand beyond its medieval limits until around the late C18. By the mid-C19 there had been a more significant expansion of the town, including the development of its suburbs, which continued into the C20.

46 and 47 High Street were built in around the early C19 and are first shown on the 1864 Ordnance Survey (OS) map. This map shows two rectangular buildings with narrow frontages facing the High Street and extending deep into narrow plots to the rear. A covered carriageway or passageway appears to be shown to the eastern side of both 46 and 47. The 1968 OS map shows their current form: 47 High Street as a long, narrow rectangle occupying the entire length of the plot and 46 High Street truncated due to the expansion of 45 High Street. Historic newspaper articles in the Isle of Wight County Press and South of England Reporter indicate that 47 High Street was occupied by Millidge and Son chemists from at least 1890 until at least 1911. Today (2024), both buildings have shops at ground-floor level with what appears to be residential use above.

Details

Terraced shops with flats above. Built in around the early C19.

MATERIALS: built of purple grey brick with red brick dressings and clay roof tiled roof coverings.

PLAN: 46 and 47 High Street are mid-terrace properties that have narrow street frontages and a long rectangular plan. As with most other historic plots along the High Street, they thus retain their historic, burgage plot form.

EXTERIOR: 46 and 47 are each three storeys high and two bays wide. The front (north) elevation, facing the High Street, is faced with purple grey brick laid in header bond with red brick window dressings and quoins. The ground floors each have timber shopfronts with plain pilasters, plate glass windows and large fascias; there is a single glazed doorway to 46 High Street and two glazed doorways to 47 High Street. At first floor level, 46 High Street has a central, bowed, oriel window with a central six-over-six sash flanked by fielded pilasters and two curved four-over-four sashes under a frieze and modillion cornice. A broken, three-brick, plat band runs across the elevations of 46 and 47 High Street at the level of the cornice of the two oriel windows. At second floor level, 46 High Street has two windows; a two-over-two sash and a casement that have moulded, flush wooden frames. There is a horizontal metal rail connected to the brickwork either side of this pair of windows and anchored by vertical members attached to the top of the oriel window at first floor level. 47 High Street has a pair of recessed, two-over-two sash windows with moulded, flush, wooden frames.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

309537

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Other
Ordnance Survey maps (1:2500): 1864, 1898, 1910, 1968
Alexander, Magnus, Newport, Isle of Wight, High Street Heritage Action Zone: Topographic Analysis of the Late Medieval Town, Historic England Research Report 49/2021, (November 2021)
Gardner, W, Ordnance Survey drawings: Newport 27A (1793). Available at
Isle of Wight Council (2007) Newport Conservation Area Appraisal.
11 October 1890, ‘Newport’, Isle of Wight County Press and South of England Reporter, p5.
4 March 1911, ‘For sale – specific articles’, Isle of Wight County Press and South of England Reporter, p4.

End of official list entry

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