Summary
An early-C19 building of three storeys, with a shop at ground-floor level.
Reasons for Designation
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History
Newport’s first charter was granted by Richard de Redvers, fourth Earl of Devon in the late C12 and this is generally regarded as marking its foundation. The settlement was laid out on the low-lying ground along the western bank of the River Medina using a grid-style plan. Recent topographic analysis suggests that Newport may have developed around an existing informal trading settlement located at the head of Medina estuary, in the vicinity of Sea and Quay Street (Alexander, 2021). The High Street is one of five east-west running streets within the grid layout. High Street and Pyle Street extend the full length of the grid, divided by a market square, and form the planned core of Newport, with other shorter parallel streets to the south (South Street) and north (Lugley and Crocker Street). They were all largely in place by the mid-C13.
In the C14, Isle of Wight was frequently subject to raids by French forces during long-running conflicts between England and France. According to historical documents, during one of the raids in 1377 Newport was severely damaged by fire and much of the population fled to Carisbrooke Castle. It appears that Newport was functioning again a few years later. During this century, records indicate that the population of Newport did decrease, most likely due to several wider economic factors, and did not significantly increase until the mid-C17. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1608 under a new charter granted by James I. Newport did not significantly expand beyond its medieval limits until around the late C18. By the mid-C19 there had been a more significant expansion of the town, including the development of its suburbs, which continued into the C20.
42 High Street is first shown on the 1864, first edition Ordnance Survey map. This shows a roughly square building situated at the northern end of the plot fronting the High Street on a long, otherwise undeveloped plot. By the 1890s, maps show that the entire plot had been developed. Maps from the 1960s show that part of this later development had, by then, been demolished and the rear of the original building remodelled. Historic newspaper articles in the Isle of Wight County Press and the South of England Reporter from the 1890s indicate that the building was home to tailors Pinnock and Sons from around 1884 to about 1900. A branch office of the Isle of Wight Nursing Institution is also listed at 42 High Street during the 1890s.
Today (2020) the building accommodates a retail unit at ground floor level with stock rooms and associated spaces above.
Details
An early-C19 building of three storeys, with a shop at ground-floor level.
MATERIALS: the front (north) elevation is faced with grey bricks laid in header bond with red brick dressings and quoins to the joints with the adjacent buildings. The east party wall rises slightly above the neighbouring 41 High Street and the exposed part of this wall is rendered. The roof is covered with slates.
PLAN: the building is roughly square in plan, fronting directly on to the High Street. The long, narrow rear of the plot has been developed with a later extension. As with most other historic plots along the High Street, the historic burgage plot form is retained.
EXTERIOR: 42 High Street is three storeys high, four bays wide and fronts directly onto the pavement. The ground floor of the street elevation has a late C20 shopfront. The first and second floors are faced with grey brick with window dressings of red brick. Each of the upper floors has four, recessed sash windows with block cills and flat arches of red brick. The first-floor windows are three-over-six sashes but the central pair have lost the glazing bars to the lower sashes. The second-floor windows are square three-over-three sashes. A plain plat band separates the first and second floors, intersected on the eastern half by three circular patress plates. The building has a shallow, dual-pitched roof with a gable end to the east elevation, and a boxy, timber eaves cornice to the front elevation. A small, modern window is partially visible in the eastern gable end above the roof line of 41 High Street.
