Summary
Pair of dwellings with ground floor shops constructed during the late-C18, extended in both the C19 and C20.
History
The town of Leominster traces its origins to the establishment of a religious house there during the C7 or earlier. The Saxon settlement endured repeated Viking raids and is recorded as a sizeable town in the Domesday Book (1086), with 27 households. In the early-C12, King Henry I established a Benedictine Priory in the town and granted a foundation charter for the town’s market. The town thrived throughout the later medieval period, despite periodic unrest due to its location in the border region. Leominster wool was prized across Europe and bestowed considerable wealth upon the town. The town centre retains many medieval and early-modern buildings; secular buildings are timber framed while surviving Priory buildings are constructed of local sandstone. The town centre retains an essentially medieval street pattern, with long, narrow burgage plots fronting the north-south spine road of Broad Street-High Street-South Street, and Corn Square (the historic market place) lying to the east of the High Street. The remains of the Priory, dissolved in 1539, lie to the north-east of the town centre. The town remained a prominent local centre into the C18 and C19. During this period, many timber-framed buildings were replaced (or refronted) by brick buildings with Classical elevations. Many houses in the town centre were partially converted to commercial use and equipped with shopfronts during the later C19 and C20.
5 and 7 South Street were constructed during the late-C18, probably on the site of an earlier building or buildings. The pair are likely to have been originally constructed as shop houses, with commercial premises on the ground floor and dwellings above. New shopfronts were inserted at number 7 (the southern property) during the late-C19 or early-C20 and at number 5 during the late-C20. Both properties have been extended to the rear (east). Number 5 appears to have been extended to the rear (east) in at least two phases during the late-C19 and later C20, while number 7 was extended to the rear sometime before 1885, this appears to be extant. The ground floors are in use as shops with dwellings above (2022).
Details
Pair of dwellings with ground floor shops constructed during the late-C18, extended in both the C19 and C20.
MATERIALS: the building is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond and painted white at number 5. Both buildings have timber shop fronts onto South Street, and a roof covering of slate.
PLAN: the original, C18 front range of the buildings is arranged on a rectangular, two-unit plan with principal elevations to the west facing South Street, with a passage between the two buildings. Both buildings have been extended to the rear, number 7 to a greater extent and now occupying a long, narrow plan.
EXTERIOR: the building is three storeys in height plus basement under a half-hipped roof with dentillated eaves to the west elevation. A lateral, brick chimney stack rises from the southern party wall of number 7. The pair of properties are symmetrically arranged above the ground-floor shopfronts, with a single, centrally-placed, timber sash window under a segmental brick arch on the first and second floors, set within timber surrounds slightly recessed within the brick façade. At number 5, the first-floor window has six-over-one glazing, and the second-floor window has nine-over-one glazing. At number 7, both windows have six-over-six glazing. The mid-to late-C20 shopfront at number 5 comprises a large plate glass window over a tiled step with plain, flanking pilasters and a large, plain fascia board. The late-C19 or early-C20 shopfront at number 7 has a stucco stall riser with a barred cellar window and a large, plate glass shop window flanked by fluted pilasters. To the left (north), the main entrance comprises a half-glazed, C20 door with a moulded over light above and flanked by fluted pilasters (the southern pilaster is shared with the shop window). To the north again, the entrance to the passageway is incorporated into the timber and stucco shopfront, also being flanked by fluted pilasters, with a wide, plank door. A timber fascia board and flat, lead-coped hood runs across the shopfront and passageway. Each property has a cross wing projecting eastwards under a gable roof. Both properties have also been extended eastwards. At number 7, there is a long, one to two storey range under a pitched roof, while at number 5, the rear extension appears to be a single storey and under a flat roof.
