Summary
A modest, timber-framed house (now a shop), of two storeys over an unlit basement, probably constructed in the late C17.
Reasons for Designation
15 Harbour Street, probably constructed in the late C17, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a relatively intact example of the type of modest house that would have lined Harbour Street (then East End) in the late C17;
* for its contribution to the historic character of Harbour Street and Ramsgate town centre.
Historic interest:
* the building is one of the few surviving in Ramsgate town centre of pre-C19 date.
History
Ramsgate is situated on the east coast of the Isle of Thanet, facing France and the Low Countries. Originating as a fishing village within the medieval parish of St Laurence, Ramsgate’s development from the C16 was driven by the strategic importance of its coastal port. Ramsgate became associated with the Cinque Ports as a limb of Sandwich from the C14. Late C17 trade with Russia and the Baltic resulted in a wave of investment and rebuilding in the town. In 1749 the construction of a harbour of refuge from storms in the North Sea and Channel was approved, and a cross wall and inner basin were completed in 1779 to the design of John Smeaton. Later improvements included a lighthouse of 1794-1795 by Samuel Wyatt and a clock house of 1817 by Wyatt and George Louch. From the mid-C18, Ramsgate became increasingly popular as a seaside resort, its expansion being accelerated by road improvements and faster sea passage offered by hoys, packets and steamers. During the Napoleonic Wars, Ramsgate became a busy garrison town and a major port of embarkation. The arrival of the South Eastern Railway’s branch line in 1846 opened up Ramsgate to mass tourism and popular culture, bringing a range of inexpensive, lively resort facilities. New schools, hospitals and services were also built. The thriving town attracted diverse faith communities; Moses Montefiore founded a synagogue and a religious college at East Cliff Lodge, while AWN Pugin designed St Augustine’s Church and the Grange as part of an intended Catholic community on the West Cliff. Ramsgate remained a popular holiday destination until the advent of cheap foreign travel in the post-war decades. Falling visitor numbers were exacerbated by the decline of the town’s small trades and industries, fishing and boat-building. However, a ferry and hovercraft port and the large marina created in the inner harbour in the 1970s have continued to bring life to the area.
In the C18 Harbour Street was known as East End and formed one arm of the cruciform arrangement of Ramsgate's four principal streets; the other three were West End (which equates with the High Street), North End (King Street) and South End (Queen Street). Number 15 Harbour Street is probably of late C17 origin and is a relatively intact example of the kind of modest house that would have lined East End in that period. Kelly's Trade Directories from the late C19 and early C20 indicate that the ground-floor shop at 15 Harbour Street was occupied by a Miss Hutchins/Hutchings first as a fruiterers (1882) and then a florist (1891 and 1903). In 1913 the premises was still a florist but under the name William Dray & Son. More recently the shop has been occupied by a goldsmiths.
Details
A modest, timber-framed house (now a shop), of two storeys over an unlit basement, probably constructed in the late C17 but with a later shopfront.
MATERIALS: the ground-floor shop has a timber shopfront with plate glass, the first floor has channelled render and the roof is covered with plain tiles.
PLAN: the building is rectangular on plan, its frontage occupying a single bay to Harbour Street.
EXTERIOR: the ground floor comprises a plate glass shopfront with a fascia and awning box of timber. The central door is of plate glass and recessed within a canted lobby with checkered tiles to the floor. There are leaded glass panes to the two outer transom lights of the shopfront. The first floor has channelled render and a single, centrally-positioned two-over-two sash window with plate glass. The steeply pitched roof is oriented with slopes parallel to Harbour Street and a single chimney stack to the rear. It is covered with plain tiles and has timber boards to the eaves, possibly covering a moulded cornice.
INTERIOR: the building has a simple internal layout, with front and back rooms and a chimney stack and newel stair rising against the party wall to the south. Exposed timbers and roof joists suggest a probable late-C17 construction date.
