Amesbury, 3 Vicarage Street

Summary

Three attached former cottages, of C17 and C19 date, which were amalgamated in the C20 to create a single dwelling.

Reasons for Designation

No. 3 Vicarage Street, Painswick, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: the C17 cottage is a good example of Cotswold vernacular building that is well constructed with fine detailing.
* Intactness: despite conversion to a single dwelling, the former cottages which make up No. 3 remain largely complete.
* Group value: it has strong group value with other cottages in the street of the same date and architectural style.
* Historical Interest: the construction of the cottages is linked to the prosperity of Painswick as a centre for the production of wool, a nationally important but localised industry.

History

Painswick rose to importance in the C17 and C18 as a centre for the production of woollen cloth with the majority of buildings in the town dating from this period of prosperity. Most of the cloth mills lay along the course of the Painswick Brook to the east of the town, and their success, combined with the crossing point over the stream at the eastern end of Tibbiwell Lane, played an important role in the development of the eastern side of the town. Vicarage Street began to be developed in the C17, mainly to accommodate weavers who found it convenient to be close to the mills. In the C19 the street was further developed with the construction of new houses, and many of the C17 cottages were also restored at this time. No. 3 is illustrative of this development in that it is comprised of a C17 house and two C19 houses that were combined in the C20 to create a single dwelling.

Details

Three attached former cottages, of C17 and C19 date, which were amalgamated in the C20 to create a single dwelling.

MATERIALS: Coursed dressed limestone with ashlar quoins and a reconstituted stone tile roof.

PLAN: The principal elevation to Vicarage Street is of four bays with the middle two bays formed from a C17 cottage and the end bays from the C19 single-cell cottages.

EXTERIOR: From left (east) to right (west), the first bay comprises a three-storey former C19 cottage, constructed from coursed dressed limestone with ashlar quoins. It has three-light casement windows with segmental arches to the lower two floors and a two-light casement window to the top floor. To the ground floor there is a blocked segmental-arched doorway with the arch partially cut into the quoins of the C17 block to the right. The central two C17 bays are of two and a half storeys, constructed from coursed dressed limestone with ashlar quoins with a roof covered with late-C20 reconstituted stone tiles. On the ground floor there is a two-light mullioned window and a chamfered door surround with a deep lintel; both under stopped hoods. To the first floor there is a two-light casement with stopped hood and the attic storey is blind. The stacks were rebuilt in the C20. To the right (west), the fourth (right-hand) bay dates from the C19. Of two storeys, it is constructed from coursed dressed limestone and has, to each floor, three-light casement windows under segmental arches. To the ground floor there is a segmental-arched doorway with the arch partially cut into the quoins of the C17 house to the left.

The rear elevation to 3 Vicarage Street is of four bays with, from left (west) to right (east), the first bay, formerly a C19 cottage, having a segmental-arched doorway, a C20 segmental-arched, two-light casement window to the first floor, and a large C20 attic window. To the right (east), the central bays have a small cellar window over which there are two three-light mullioned windows to the ground floor and two two-light mullioned windows to the first floor; all under stopped hoods. To the second floor there is a C20 three-light casement window. To the right, the C19 former cottage forms a projecting fourth bay to the house and has a large five-light mullioned window to the ground floor and a four-light mullioned window to the first floor; both under stopped hoods. To the second floor there is a C20 three-light casement window.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

133521

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 11, accessed from http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19043

Other
Leech, R, The Committee for Rescue Archaeology in Avon, Gloucestershire and Somerset, Towns in Gloucestershire: Archaeology and Planning, 1981,
Douthwaite, A, & Devine, D, Gloucestershire Archaeological Towns Survey: Stroud District, 1998,

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