Remains of Bennett's Hall, 2 and 3 Pride Hill

Remains of Bennett's Hall, 2-3, Pride Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 1DG

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Remains of a medieval building in the centre of Shrewsbury dating from the C13 believed to have been a merchant's house. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1254707
Date first listed:: 10-Jan-1953
List Entry Name:: Remains of Bennett's Hall, 2 and 3 Pride Hill
Statutory Address:: Remains of Bennett's Hall, 2-3, Pride Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 1DG

User submitted image — Uploaded by Richard Law This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Images of England Project

To view this image please use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Edge.

Archive image, may not represent current condition of site.

Date:: 2003-01-05
Reference:: IOE01/09989/23
Rights:: © Mr M. I. Joachim. Source: Historic England Archive

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1254707
Date first listed:: 10-Jan-1953
Date of most recent amendment:: 24-Apr-2015
List Entry Name:: Remains of Bennett's Hall, 2 and 3 Pride Hill
Statutory Address 1:: Remains of Bennett's Hall, 2-3, Pride Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 1DG

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: Remains of Bennett's Hall, 2-3, Pride Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 1DG

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Shropshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Shrewsbury
National Grid Reference:: SJ4912212575

Summary

Remains of a medieval building in the centre of Shrewsbury dating from the C13 believed to have been a merchant's house.

Reasons for Designation

The C13 remains of Bennett's Hall, Shrewsbury, believed to have been a merchant's house, are recommended for listing at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest: a relatively rare survival of a medieval town house, the remains of which reveal its status and plan-form, and display good quality architectural detailing and use of materials;

Historic interest: the remains give important information on the history and development of domestic architecture and town planning in the medieval period, and give an interesting insight into the lifestyle of a wealthy citizen of Shrewsbury at that time;

Group value: it forms part of a group of important medieval (remains of) town buildings in the centre of Shrewsbury.

History

The remains, partially incorporated in 2-3 Pride Hill (not included in the listing) are identified as those of Bennett's Hall, a C13 building with remains also present in the courtyard to its rear, which is believed to have been a medieval merchant's house.

Pride Hill formed part of the medieval town's commercial core, and has been known to local historians and antiquarians from the early C19. There is no evidence available on the development of Bennett's Hall between the late C14 and c1600. The building was partially demolished in the late C16 to early C17 - cottages were built within its shell and the frontage to Pride Hill was rebuilt.

The earliest recorded observation of the site dates from 1808 and is a description by Hugh Owen of the remains of the building later identified as Bennett's Hall. In 1821 John Chessell Buckler sketched the remains of the building on a visit to Shrewsbury. In the mid C19 the remains were identified as being that of Bennett's Hall, which was mentioned in a deed of 1378 in the Cartulary of Haughmond Abbey. Before the end of the C19 the remains became known for a while as the 'Old Mint' as it was mistakenly identified as the site of Charles the First's royal mint.

The first formal archaeological recordings, undertaken by the then Ministry of Works and the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, took place prior to the redevelopment of the site in 1958 (recorded in 1963). In 1985-6 and 1987-8 the site of Bennett's Hall was investigated again and excavated in advance of development (published in 1993). The standing remains were fully recorded. The excavation, covering an area of just under 100sqm immediately to the rear of nos. 1 and 2-3 Pride Hill, produced limited finds with few datable artefacts. These included a small pottery assemblage containing medieval and post-medieval fabric types, 55 medieval decorative ceramic floor tiles (both fragments and complete ones), 45 fragments of stone roof tile, 311 fragments or complete ceramic roof tiles, a Grinshill stone mortar, several iron objects including strips, a number of nails, shears and a key.

Details

The remains of a two storey medieval town house measuring approximately 25m by 10.8m, identified as Bennett's Hall dating from the C13, now partially incorporated in 2-3 Pride Hill. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that the C20 and C21 internal and external fabric of 2-3 Pride Hill are not of special architectural or historic interest.

The standing remains of Bennett's Hall are constructed in coursed and squared sandstone rubble and consist of a single transverse length of internal wall with a small section of return walling surviving for two storeys. The upper section of the wall comprises archways each side of a central fireplace. The fireplace has detached shafts with foliate capitals carrying remnants of a stone hood mostly rebuilt and repaired in timber. To its left is a high chamfered archway set over a squared inner arch, the latter renewed. To the right a renewed outer archway to inner doorway with engaged shafts with worn foliate capitals. Below this level are two wide, double-chamfered arches with semi-octagonal responds - the bases survive but the arches themselves have been renewed.

A further, freestanding fragment that formed part of the Bennett's Hall north-west external wall stands circa 2.5m from the rear elevation of 2-3 Pride Hill. Like that described above it is also constructed in coursed and squared sandstone rubble with lead cladding to the top, added in the late C20, to protect it from the weather.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 457796
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Baker, NJ, Lawson, JB , Maxwell, R, Smith, JT, 'Further work on Pride Hill, Shrewsbury' in Shropshire History and Archaeology, , Vol. LXVIII, (1993), pp. 3-28
Other
Shropshire Council HER Event / Activity Full Report, printed 9 January 2015
Shropshire Council Monument Full Report (SMR Record), printed 9 January 2015

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

The listed building(s) is/are shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.