The Red House, 97 and 98 High Street

Summary

Former townhouse, built in the C18, subdivided by the mid-C20 and used as offices.

Reasons for Designation

The Red House, 97 and 98 High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a C18 building with high-quality brickwork and architectural detailing.

Historic interest:

* as part of the urban development of Newport’s historic core.

Group value:

* the building is in close proximity to several listed buildings with which it forms a good group within the historic streetscape.

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, the 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 According to historical documents, during one of the raids in 1377, Newport was severely damaged by fire and much of the population fled to Carisbrooke Castle.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.

The building known as the Red House was built as a townhouse in the C18. Thomas Sewell (1775-1842), solicitor, his wife Jane Edwards (1773-1848) and their family moved into the building in the early C19. Their 12 children included Henry Sewell (1807-1879), who became the premier of New Zealand, and Elizabeth Missing Sewell (1815-1906) a writer who focused on matters of religion and education. The house was also used as Thomas Sewell’s offices; by which time he had joined the firm of his uncle William Clarke. It continued to be used as an office for the solicitor’s firm, under various partnerships, throughout the C19, C20 and into the C21. The building is depicted on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map (1864, 1:2500) with a similar footprint to that at present (2024). By the 1930s the building is recorded as being occupied by two businesses, a solicitor’s firm in number 98 and a dental surgery in number 97. In around the mid-C20 a porch, with Roman-Ionic columns and pilasters, and an entablature with a plain frieze and dentil cornice, were removed.

Details

Former townhouse, built in the C18, subdivided by the mid-C20 and used as offices.

MATERIALS: the building is constructed of brick, laid to Flemish bond in a checker pattern, with brick, stucco and ashlar detailing. The front range is stopped by a tile roof with wide brick stacks.

PLAN: the building faces south on the High Street, with wings to the rear (north).

EXTERIOR: the main, two-storey front range has a five-window south elevation flanked by a further bay on either side. The ground and first-floor windows are six-over-six sashes in recessed reveals, with block sills and flat brick arched heads. The outer window bays project slightly forward. The central recessed entrance includes a six-panel door. The doorcase consists of a pair of Doric pilasters and a moulded arch, within which is a semi-circular fanlight with decorative detailing. Above the ground floor is a stucco plat band and a pair of dentil pediments over the outer bay windows. There is a further stucco string course with a plain fried and moulded cornice above the first floor. To the east is a further single-window three-storey bay with a panelled entrance door under a fanlight to number 98. To the west is a two-storey bay with a further ground-floor door under a rounded arch and first-floor sash window. This front range is topped by a gable gambrel roof, with large chimney stacks at either end. Over the front elevation are three dormer windows. There is a brick parapet with stone coping; in front of each dormer is a panel of balusters.

To the rear is the back of the main range, a two-storey hipped roof and flat-roof wing at the north-west corner, and a two-storey projecting bowed bay to the north-east corner; all with windows of various dates, including several sashes. At the rear elevation of the main range is a first-floor sash window in a shallow recess with a pair of pilasters, topped by a blind fanlight, within a rounded brick arch; above is a broken pediment. The roof on this side includes further dormer windows behind a brick parapet.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

309553

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Lloyd, DW, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Isle of Wight, (2018), p181.

Websites
Red House and Sewells, accessed 19 January 2024 from http://jsbookreader.blogspot.com/2010/02/red-house-and-sewells.html
History of the firm, accessed 19 January 2024 from https://www.jeromelaw.co.uk/history-of-the-firm/
Transcribed historic directories, accessed 23 January 2024 from https://www.foncc.org.uk/local/directory/directories.php
Sewell, Henry (1807–1879), accessed 23 January 2024 from https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-25142#odnb-9780198614128-e-25142
Sewell, Elizabeth Missing (1815-1906), accessed 23 January 2024 from https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-36027

Other
Alexander, Magnus, Newport, Isle of Wight, High Street Heritage Action Zone: Topographic Analysis of the Late Medieval Town, Historic England Research Report 49/2021, (November 2021)
Isle of Wight Council, Newport Conservation Area Appraisal (2007)
Isle of Wight Historic Environment Service entry 14015 - MIW9979 97 & 98 High Street, Newport 'The Red House

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