37, 39 and 41 High Street

Summary

Three commercial buildings, refronted around 1790 and altered around 1995.

Reasons for Designation

37, 39 and 41 High Street are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an distinctive historic commercial building, which contributes strongly to the architectural character and diversity of Bedford’s historic High Street.

Historic interest:

* for the contribution it makes to the evolution of the historic High Street and development of the town.

Group value:

* for its strong functional and historic group value with numerous other listed buildings on High Street and St Paul’s Square.

History

Bedford lies in the shallow valley of the River Great Ouse, and from the Middle Saxon period evidence appears for the beginnings of a settlement at ‘Beda’s ford’, a key river crossing point. The Middle Saxon core of Bedford developed on the north side of the river with an early street pattern (still recognisable) and was surrounded by a defensive ditch. In the C10 and C11, Bedford was important both as a trading centre, with coins minted in the town, and as the central burh of the shire. The town’s main north-south route, comprising what is now High Street to the north of the river and St Mary’s and St John’s Streets to the south of the river, was developed by this time. After 1066, Bedford became a stronghold of the new Norman regime and during the reign of William II, a motte and bailey castle was built in a strategic position on the north bank of the river and then rebuilt in stone. A period of unrest, however, led to a siege of the castle in 1224 and, when it fell, Henry III ordered it to be dismantled. Despite political struggles, the town experienced a period of consolidation during the Norman and Medieval periods, when local commerce flourished and religious houses and hospitals were founded. The population of the town was decimated by the Black Death in the C14, and a new river crossing at Great Barford undermined the local economy by drawing traffic and trade away from the town. There was little further growth and the town was largely contained within its Saxon framework, as can be seen from John Speed’s map of Bedford dated 1610.

The dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII dealt a further blow to the town’s prosperity but its fortunes began to revive with the receipt of letters patent from Edward VI, allowing the foundation of a grammar school. Bedford also benefitted from the River Navigation Act, which made the River Great Ouse navigable between Bedford and King’s Lynn (completed in 1689). The town became the headquarters of Cromwell’s army between 1646 and 1647 and the puritan influence established during the Civil War lived on after the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672, when the town became a centre for non-conformist preachers such as John Bunyan. Despite this prosperity, Bedford remained of modest size through to the end of the C18, as illustrated on Thomas Jefferys’ map of 1765. An Improvement Act in 1803 allowed for the erection of a new river bridge between 1811 and 1813 (widened in 1938), and clearance of the Market Square. Continuing prosperity in the early C19 was accompanied by modest growth, but by far the most dramatic expansion of Bedford followed the building of the Midland railway in 1873, linking the town with London, and associated industrialisation. In the early years of the C20, some houses in the town centre were replaced by department stores, banks and cinemas to serve the expanding population; The Arcade was built and other properties in and around the centre were converted to shops and offices. The High Street is characterised by narrow three and four-storey frontages, with long buildings, closes and yards occupying medieval burgage plots to the rear, those on the eastern side of High Street being particularly long.

37, 39 and 41 High Street contained remains of C15 medieval buildings in their lower parts, and were unified by a Georgian façade in the late C18 or early C19. Historic street directories record the business which occupied these buildings, including the establishment of Underwood and Banks outfitters at 41 High Street in 1790; it is probable the Georgian façade was added at that time. The three buildings are shown on the Ordnance Survey town plan of Bedford in 1884 as rectangular on plan, with outbuildings occupying the long burgage plots to the rear. By the time of the 1901 OS map, number 37 had been extended to the rear. All three buildings were extended to the rear around 1995 to create a supermarket; the ground floor shopfronts of the three buildings were also replaced at that time.

Details

Three commercial buildings, refronted around 1790 and altered around 1995.

MATERIALS: the roof has a Welsh slate covering and the walls are constructed of brick.

PLAN: the buildings are rectangular on plan facing west to High Street, with long extensions to the rear (east).

Description: 37, 39 and 41 High Street are three-and-half storeys in height and six bays in width. The shared gambrel roof is slate-covered and features three dormers with late-C20 casements hidden behind a low parapet wall. Number 41 retains a red brick chimneystack on its north gable. The brick walls of the first and second floor, refronted around 1790, are laid in Flemish bond and painted. The six bays of windows are flat-arched, with a shallow-projecting keystone to their stone lintel, and with stone sills. The second floor has three-over-three timber sashes, and the first floor has six-over-six timber sashes, both with horns. The ground floor shopfronts were replaced around 1995.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

35526

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, Nikolaus, O'Brien, Charles, The Buildings of England: Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Peterborough, (2014), 78-79
Steadman, S, Archaeological recording to the rear of 29-41 High Street, Bedford in Bedfordshire Archaeology, Vol. 23, (1999), 135-163

Websites
The Historic Environment Record for Bedfordshire, ’37/39 High Street, HER 1235’, accessed 02 Decemeber 2022 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MBD1235&resourceID=1014

Other
Bedford Borough Council, Bedford High Street Heritage Gazeteer, (November 2008) pp49-51
Bedford Borough Council, Bedford Conservation Area Character Appraisal, (2008) pp20-31

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