Summary
Shops with office accommodation above. Late C18/early C19 with various alterations, principally in the late C20 and early C21.
Reasons for Designation
49-50 and 52-54 (51 not extant) East Street is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: as examples of well-proportioned late C18/early C19 town buildings with good architectural detailing to their frontages;
* Group value: they form a group with other listed buildings on a significant street, including No. 48 (Grade II*), No. 55 (Grade II) and No. 21 East Street (Grade II) and Gray’s Almhouses (Grade I).
History
The basic street pattern of Taunton had been established by the medieval period, including East Street which is one of the principal routes through the town and one of its established shopping streets. Taunton was an important cloth town, but suffered during the Civil War, and much of the redevelopment in previously occupied areas of the town centre appears to have occurred generally on a piecemeal basis, and principally during the late C18 and early C19.
49-54 East Street date from the late C18/early C19 and may well have been houses when first built. They are shown on the c1840 Taunton Tithe Map, at which date they all have attached ranges and other buildings to the rear. The Ordnance Survey map of 1890 depicts a carriage works to the rear of 54. By the late C19 it is likely that these buildings began to shift towards commercial use, with ground floors becoming shops and upper floors used as living accommodation. They have all undergone alteration since then, though largely during the second half of the C20 and in the early C21. Changes include the loss of the rear ranges to all except 49, whose range was raised by two additional storeys in the mid-C20. Other alterations, such as the replacement of most of the shop fronts and internal refurbishment, have also taken place. Further to this, 49 and 50 East Street were combined into single premises in 1982, 51 was demolished in the 1980s, and changes occurred to 54 when the adjacent County Walk shopping centre was built in 1985.
Details
Shops with office accommodation above. Late C18/early C19 with various alterations, principally in the late C20 and early C21.
MATERIALS: constructed of brick. 49-50 and 53 are painted. The roofs are variously clad with plain tiles, double Roman tiles, artificial slate and metal profiled sheeting.
PLAN: all have a double-depth plan and a narrow frontage. 49-50 have been combined to form a single premises.
EXTERIOR: three storeys and basements, with varying elevations which include sash windows with glazing bars, moulded cornices and parapets to the facades. 49-50 is a three bay building with a modern shop front that was installed within the existing reveals in the 1980s. There is a moulded cornice over the shop front. The fenestration to the upper floors is symmetrically arranged. The first-floor windows to the outer bays have sixteen panes and the central window has twelve panes. There is an eight pane window to both outer bays and a central window of six panes at second-floor level. 51 is no longer extant and was replaced with vehicular entranceway with modern brick surround in the 1980s. 52 has a C19 shop front with panelled stall riser, panelled pilasters with carved consoles, a plain fascia, and dentil cornice. The recessed entrance has a modern full-glazed door, and there is a single display window to the left and two to the right; these have slender colonettes and rise to fretwork panels. Each of the upper floors has a triple-light window and a sash window with glazing bars, all under heads of rusticated stone voussoirs. 53 has a late-C20 shop front with transom lights above the display windows and stall risers, and a C19 dentil cornice above the fascia. To the right is a round-headed doorway set in a recessed, panelled doorcase with traceried fanlight and modern glazed door. The first and second floors each contain a central sash window of sixteen panes with a six over six sash window to each of the flanking bays. 54 has a late C20 shop front with three six over six sash windows at first-floor level and three over six sash windows to the second floor. The right (west) return was rebuilt in 1985. The rear (south) elevations have undergone alteration and some rebuilding, with late C20 windows to 53 and 54. The rear of 50 is two-storeys, and has a ground-floor doorway to the far right and sash windows with thick glazing bars to both floors. The rear range to 49 has a mansard roof. Its west elevation is blind, and its right return and east elevation have replacement windows.
INTERIOR: (only 49-50 inspected internally). 50 has a late C19 fireplace to the first floor which has a simple timber surround, brackets supporting the mantle shelf, and a round-arched grate. 53 is understood to retain a late C18/early C19 staircase with turned newel posts, stick balusters and a ramped handrail.
The entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 22 June 2017.
