Summary
Late-C18 house, in use as a restaurant and shop in the C20, and converted back into a house in the early C21.
Reasons for Designation
39 Fore Street, Newlyn is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Date: it is a late-C18 building which, despite C20 and C21 external and internal alterations, retains a significant proportion of the early building fabric;
* Architectural interest: it retains most of the original timber roof structure and substantial granite walls, reflecting the local Cornish building tradition;
* Historic interest: it is adjacent to the C15 pier, the focus of local fishing activities, and stands at the historic commercial heart of Newlyn;
* Group value: it has strong group value with the adjacent C15 Old Harbour Pier (listed at Grade II*), and 35 Fore Street (listed at Grade II).
History
The building is located on Fore Street, in the historic heart of Newlyn. It stands on the edge of the C15 Old Harbour and walls (listed at Grade II*), which was the original centre of the historic fishing village and the building is likely to have a long historic association with the fishing activities associated with the quay; indeed, a side entrance which leads from the quay slipway to the cellar still exists on the west elevation. The building is believed to date from the late-C18 and it appears on the 1840 tithe map. The plan of the building has not changed significantly since this time, restricted by the confines of the sea wall and the road. An early-C20 image shows that the building has been subject to a number of alterations, principally the replacement of many of the original windows throughout the C20 and early C21 in a variety of styles and materials, including some changes to the original openings. On the 1962 Ordnance Survey map it is noted as a club. The building was in use for much of the late-C20 as the ‘Old Quay Restaurant’, with a restaurant (first-floor) and fish and chip shop (ground-floor). In the early C21 it was converted into a house which involved the replacement of the modern shop front and wood fascia, with a central doorway and windows on either side. The external stairs on this side of the building, which led up to the first-floor restaurant, were also removed and replaced by a two-storey wall with an entrance door on the ground floor. Internally there are no features which appear to relate to the late-C20 commercial use of the building, although the large open spaces on the ground and first floors have largely been retained.
Details
MATERIALS: granite rubble, parts of which are either colour washed or rendered, all under a slate hipped roof.
PLAN : a roughly square plan.
EXTERIOR: the building is two storeys on the front elevation (south) and three storeys to the rear (north). The front elevation has a central door with modern single-light windows on either side and a large rectangular central window on the first floor. A further side entrance is located to the left. The west elevation slopes down to the south, following the line of the pier’s slipway. The windows on this elevation consist of two long rectangular C20 metal frame casements on the ground floor and two smaller C20 picture windows on the first. This elevation has a timber door, topped by a large granite lintel, which leads directly from the slipway into the cellar. There is also a single-storey lean-to, repaired extensively in the C20 with concrete breeze blocks. A plaque on this elevation, added in the late-C20, commemorates the research of local historian Bill Best-Harris (1914-1987). The rear harbour elevation rises straight from the sea with a substantial granite wall supporting the buildings foundations. The cellar windows are timber sashes. The ground-floor windows are C20 windows. The first floor consists of a row of C20 uPVC casement windows which run the length of the building and round to the east side elevation. The rest of the east elevation is obscured by a modern kitchen extension on the ground floor.
INTERIOR: most of the interior features are late-C20 or early-C21. The entrance door leads onto a small hallway with a water closet and small shortage room on either side, before opening in a large open plan living space. The east side of the ground floor has an attached modern kitchen extension and access corridor. The C21 dog-leg pine stair case is in the south-west corner of the building. The lower ground floor consists of a bedroom and a large open-plan storage cellar. On the west side of the room are a set of granite steps leading up to the external door which exits onto the slipway. The first floor contains a bedroom and bathroom over the front of the house and another large open-plan living space over the rear. The A-frame roof timbers are all exposed. Many of these are rough-hewn late-C18 timbers, with some modern replacements. This floor provides access to the roof terrace, via a modern uPVC door, which sits over the C20 kitchen extension on the east side.
