Summary
A terrace of early to mid-C19, subdivided in the C20.
Reasons for Designation
Nos. 51, 53, 55, 55a and 57 High Street Wivenhoe, a terrace predating 1840, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons.
* Architectural interest: Despite some alterations, the buildings retain a well-executed facade with polite detailing to the doors and windows;
* Group value: Group value with numerous listed buildings on the High Street, contributes to its special interest.
History
Wivenhoe has Saxon origins; the Domesday Book of 1086 records a small settlement of fewer than thirty adults, livestock and a mill.
In the early C15, the town was owned by the Earls of Oxford, passing to Roger Townshend in the late C16. It seems probable that riverine trade and fishing played a significant economic role in the early development of the town. Ship building is documented from the late-C16 and continued to be an important activity throughout the post-medieval period producing both commercial and military craft near to the quayside up until the mid C20. A vibrant port had developed by the C18. Shipbuilding continued to dominate and associated buildings such as public houses, maltings and housing, grew in number. A bath-house was built in 1750 by local doctor, Horace Flack and a workhouse was constructed at The Cross. Racing vessels were built from the early C19, and continued to be produced throughout the century. The town expanded with the coming of the railways, when its fishery could reach wider audiences, but until the mid-C20 shipbuilding still dominated the economic fortunes of the town. Military vessels and sections of the mulberry harbour, crucial to the success of the D-day landings, were built here, but both of the principal shipyards went out of business in the late-C20.
The draft Conservation Area Appraisal of 2007 describes Wivenhoe as an attractive small port which retains its maritime character along the Quay and Anchor Hill. Its historic core, nestling beside the river Colne and framed to the north by the C14 Church of St. Mary, is visually distinctive and maintains the vibrancy of its historic past.
Nos. 51, 53, 55, 55a and 57 High Street were built as a terrace of three dwellings in the early to mid C19; they are depicted on the historic Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1874. There has been some remodelling to the rear in the C20 and the buildings have been further subdivided into flats and shops since the building was listed, resulting in address inaccuracies in the list description of 1982.
Details
Terrace of the early to mid-C19, altered to the rear in the C20.
MATERIALS.
Red brick laid in Flemish bond with slate covering to the roofs.
PLAN.
A terrace of three dwellings with an off-centre arch giving vehicular access to the rear.
EXTERIOR.
A two-storey terrace with a gabled roof, a brick end stack and an off-centre ridge stack with pots, and overhanging eaves.
The moulded brick, shallow-arched, vehicular arch has a hornless 6-over-6 sash window beneath a segmental, rendered brick, arch to its left. To the right of the arch are two units each with timber panelled doors in moulded wooden cases and matching hornless 6-over-6 sash windows. On the first floor are four smaller but matching, 6-over-6 sashes. On the return wall of the archway are six-light casement windows with glazing bars. The rear elevation has been remodelled.
INTERIOR.
Not inspected.
