1 Silver Street

Summary

A house of 1778, with a C20 shop front.

History

The historic core of Kettering centres around St Peter and St Paul church, Market Place to its north-west, and the immediate network of streets around it. Originally a Saxon village and later a market town, Kettering was for much of its history a relatively small linear settlement comprising what are now Gold Street, the High Street, Market Street, and Market Place. This core layout of medieval streets persists today, though the majority of the surviving buildings date from the C19 and early C20. Kettering was at the convergence of several important routes and benefited from this and from the wool industry, but it was the arrival in 1857 of the Midland Railway which enabled larger industries, particularly the boot and shoe making industry, to expand the town significantly beyond its historic core. The wider town is still characterised by numerous former factories and associated terraced housing.

The site of 1 Silver Street has been developed since at least the C16. Maps from the 1720s show this area of the town densely occupied. A date stone in the gable of the north elevation appears to read 1778. The building was a house until the ground floor was converted into a shop in the C20. Externally, the building has been much altered in the C19 and C20.

Details

MATERIALS: the front (western) façade of the building is of red brick, with detail in stucco and stone. The gabled ends are painted brick with ironstone rubblestone in the gables. This is painted over to the north but left uncovered to the south gable. The south gable has a large expanse of concrete render. The chimneys are of limestone. The roof is pitched with gables to the north and south and covered with slate.

PLAN: roughly rectangular on plan with the principal facade facing onto Silver Street to the west.

EXTERIOR: three-storey townhouse. The western façade is in a symmetrical arrangement of three bays. A plain plat band divides the first and second floors on both elevations. Painted stone pilasters with prominent stone cornices decorate each corner of the building. On the west elevation, a stone cornice runs above the upper windows directly below the roofline.

The first-floor windows comprise two C19 oriel bays to north and south, and a central two-over-two sash window with a prominent moulded window surround and projecting keystone. The second-floor windows comprise three two-over-two sash windows again with moulded window surrounds and projecting keystones.

The northern façade is constructed from bricks as with the front façade, currently painted, and the mouldings from the western façade continue on this façade. As with the western façade, there are two painted stone pilasters to this elevation, one at the east and one at the western corner. In the centre of the gable of the north elevation, a limestone stone with the numbers ‘1778’ and the letters ‘J^M’ may indicate the original construction date of the building. The chimney on the northern façade is of dressed limestone. This façade has no window openings above the ground floor shopfront.

The southern façade is largely obscured by the adjoining building and by render, however, the gable end is visible. This is constructed from ironstone rubblestone and has limestone quoins visible on the rear corner and part of the gable. The chimney above is of dressed limestone. The shopfront is late C20 of plate glass and has no historic elements.

Listing NGR: SP8678778792

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

230113

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
Northampton Historic Environment records 7198/0/59, accessed 16 February 2021 from [https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=1044&uid=MNN106837]

Other
Map of Kettering c. 1720, accessed 16 February 2021 at [http://britishlibrary.georeferencer.com/maps/a6b9887c-b961-47b1-8460-899d17408fc3/]
"Parishes: Kettering," in A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London: Victoria County History, 1930), 218-226. British History Online, accessed January 25 2021, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/northants/vol3/pp218-226.
Mid twentieth century photograph of No. 1, accessed 19 February 2021 at [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/01/05/56/0105566f8eb7a3a21a54c2baa39a7130.jpg]

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.

Print the official list entry