Numbers 32 and 34 (Townsend House)

Details

SJ 6634-6734; 13/50

MARKET DRAYTON C.P.,
GREAT HALES STREET (south side),
Nos. 32 and 34 (Townsend House)

II

House, now divided. Probably C15 with alterations and additions of
c.1600, C18 alterations and late C19 addition. Remodelled
c.1906-7. Timber-framed with plastered infill on a dressed red sandstone
plinth; rendered and partly rebuilt and extended in brick at rear.
Front and right-hand gable end refaced and partly rebuilt in red brick
with blue brick plinth and yellow/grey sandstone ashlar dressings.
Plain tile roofs. Framing: close studding with long straight tension
braces. Jettied first floor with billet-ornamented bressumer. H-
plan. Two probably C15 framed bays with c.1600 cross wings of two framed
bays and further additions to front and back. Two storeys over basement.
Pierced barge boards with finial. Pair of brick ridge stacks, off-
centre to right and to left-hand cross wing; two further brick stacks
at rear. Four gables to front. 3:2:1:1 windows; plate-glass sashes
with stone cills and lintels. Full-height canted bay to left. Reused
C16 or C17 nail-studded boarded door between second and third windows
from right with strap hinges. Moulded C17 architrave and c.1906-7
round-arched surround with boarded tympanum. Left-hand return front:
exposed timber framing. Small 2-light first-floor window and evidence
of blocked former windows. Lean-to porch and addition to left. Right-
hand gable end: 2-light attic window, ground-floor plate-glass sash
to left and glazed door to right with gabled porch. Rear: later infill
between gabled cross wings, that to left a C20 rebuilding of a C17
timber-framed wing and that to right is C18 or C19, of one storey and has a canted
bay with glazing bar sashes. Late C19 two-storey brick wing to south-
west.

INTERIOR: substantial surviving timber frame. Central 2-
bay hall range has chamfered posts with large jowls, cambered
tie beams, central collar and tie-beam truss with queen struts, and curved
wind braces. Cross wings with purlins (some encased in plaster), straight
wind braces, and framed cross walls. Left-hand cross wing with close-
studded gable end (visible internally). Tension brace visible in front
wall of central range. Probable former external jetties to inner faces
of cross wings at front, that to left with billet-ornamented bressumer
(see left-hand return front) and both with brackets. Central ground-
floor-wall: probably inserted C17 ceiling with large ovolo-moulded
beams and chamfered joists with various stops. Staircase to left,
probably moved here in early C20, but reusing old oak treads and with
square-panelled framed side wall. Left-hand ground-floor front room:
moulded stone cornice above fireplace. Cased beams. Left-hand ground-
floor rear room (kitchen): pair of deep-chamfered beams and chamfered
and stopped joists. Chamfered wall plate and bracket. Large blocked
fireplace with wooden lintel. Pointed-arched doorway to hall with
chamfered reveals. C16 or C17 nail-studded back door (possibly relocated)
with strap hinges and moulded surround with pendant to segmental head.
C18 rear wing: early C18 fireplace with lugged architrave, marble inner
surround, pulvinated frieze and marbled dentil cornice. 6-panelled
door with L-hinges. Ground-floor room to C17 rear wing: deep-chamfered
beam with ogee stops. C17 panelling, some with lozenge ornament. C17
panelled door with L-hinges. Small ground-floor room to right of hall:
small C18 fireplace with cast-iron basket grate. Right-hand ground-
floor rooms: ovolo-moulded beams. Open fireplace (reduced in width
by later inserted wall) with chamfered wooden lintel and plaster frieze
above with four (one almost obscured) dragons, central rose and moulded
top edge. First-floor left-hand front room: early C18 wooden fireplace
with moulded architrave, pulvinated frieze and moulded cornice. Glass
above door inscribed and dated 1755, 1757 and 1758, and signed Richard
Townsend. First-floor left-hand rear room: early C18 wooden fireplace
with lugged moulded architrave, frieze, moulded cornice and cast-iron
basket grate. Old floorboards throughout. The house has a complex
building history. It appears that the front wall of the hall range
has been brought forward (probably in the C17) flush with the cross
wings (see framing in front wall internally). This would explain the
existence of what appear to be former external jetties on the inner
faces of the cross wall. It is also possible that the small gable
on the front marks the position of a former 2-storey porch, later encased.
Another explanation for the plan is that the central core was formerly
a 2-bay (or larger) aisled hall, but evidence for this was not noted
at the time of survey (June 1986).

Listing NGR: SJ6774834086

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

260353

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.