Summary
Former Quaker Meeting House, built around 1860 but with some remaining fabric from possible C17 origins. Extended in the 1890s. Later used as a meeting hall by the Plymouth Brethren and subsequently a Catholic church hall.
Reasons for Designation
Holyrood Hall, 70 High Street is listed at at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a mid-C19 former Quaker Meeting House, with some remaining fabric of possible C17 date, which contributes to the character of an architecturally varied historic streetscape.
Historic interest:
* as part of the urban development of Newport’s historic core.
Group value:
* the building is in close proximity to a large number of listed buildings and forms 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 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, 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 According to historical documents, during one of the raids in 1377 Newport was severely damaged by fire and much of the population fled to Carisbrooke Castle.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.
The current building on the site of Holyrood Hall dates from around 1860, although the site has a longer association with religious use, being home to a Quaker meeting house between 1694 and 1804. During re-roofing work and repairs at Holyrood Hall in 1999, it was discovered that the roof and upper part of the west wall adjacent to the High Street was partially supported on the remains of the gabled wall of an earlier timber-framed building, possibly of C17 date. The current building continued to be used by the Quakers until 1922 when it became the town’s Plymouth Brethren meeting hall. Later it was acquired by the Catholic Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Pyle Street (National Heritage List for England 1232851 - Grade II*), adjoining Holyrood Hall to the south, as its church hall (and is still used as such today).
The plan form of the building is first shown on the 1864 First Edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map (1:2500). This shows a roughly square building with a large rear garden. Subsequent OS maps from the 1890s and 1900s show that this building has been extended. In an article from 1896 in the Isle of Wight County Press and South of England Reporter it is stated that ‘[d]uring the last three years the worshippers at the Friends’ Meeting House in the High-street have so increased in numbers as to render necessary an enlargement of their sanctuary, and with commendable enterprise the authorities have set to work and doubled its size by extending the building southwards’. The article goes on to state that the work cost £250 and was carried out by Messrs. H. Scott and Damp Bros. By the 1967 Epoch a5 OS map (1:1250) the site is labelled as Holyrood Hall. This name probably originated from when the building was taken over by the Plymouth Brethren in 1922, as this superseded an earlier building on Holyrood Street.
Details
Former Quaker Meeting House, built around 1860 but with some remaining fabric from possible C17 origins. Extended in the 1890s. Later used as a meeting hall by the Plymouth Brethren and subsequently a Catholic church hall.
MATERIALS: brick, rendered on the front (north) elevation and hung with slate-coloured tiles on the western gable end. The roof is gabled to the flanks and is covered in slates.
PLAN: rectangular plan with a narrow front elevation onto the High Street. As with most other historic plots along the High Street, the building retains its historic, burgage plot width.
EXTERIOR: the north (front) elevation is rendered, three bays wide and fronts directly onto the pavement. The central bay has a Gothic arched entrance with double doors and a rolled hood moulding with label stops. To the east of the door is a small arched noticeboard. Either side of the entrance are two narrow, double-height, metal-framed, Gothic arched windows of ten panes, also with rolled hood moldings and stops. Above these, located centrally above the door is a small square grate with a blind, Gothic arched window, again with rolled label mouldings and stops.
