Summary
Gate piers, built in the mid-to late C18 and rebuilt in the C19, and attached boundary wall, built in the mid- to late C18.
Reasons for Designation
The gate piers on Whitsands Road and the attached boundary wall south-west of 20 Market Place are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as the prominent and architecturally distinguished rear entrance to a mid-C18 townhouse, enlivened by attractive classical detailing;
* for the quality materials and craftsmanship employed in their construction, including the use of local vernacular materials and craftsmanship.
Historic interest:
* the C18 gate piers and boundary wall make a notable contribution to the rich architectural character and evolution of 20 Market Place and its environs.
Group value:
* they are surrounded by many designated assets with which they have strong group value, including but not limited to Oakleigh House to the northeast (Grade II*), and 18 Market Place, 20 Market Place, and the gate piers and flanking walls north of 18 Market Place (each listed at Grade II).
History
Swaffham’s significance in the Middle Ages stemmed from its position as a crossroads on main east-west and north-south routes, not for its position on a river. The market and two fairs were established by the mid-C13 on the triangular Market Place, bounded on the north side by the present Lynn Street. The marketplace was likely originally open to the church on the eastern side, but C17 development closed this off. The Shambles developed in the centre of the marketplace in the early post-medieval period. The late C18 was a period of some social importance for the town when it became at least locally fashionable; there had been a racecourse at Swaffham since the C17 and the Earl of Orford founded the Coursing Club in 1786. The Assembly Rooms were constructed between 1776 and 1778, and the south front was added in 1817. The overall impression of the town centre is mid- to late Georgian, but there is evidence of C16 and C17 work behind many frontages.
In 1724 Nicholas Hamond, Lord of the Manor of Swaffham, bequeathed £1000 in his will for the erection of a schoolhouse and instruction of 20 boys in reading, writing and arithmetic. Hamond’s Grammar School was erected in 1736 on the Campinglands, and a National School and teachers’ house were added in 1838. The school was transferred to 18 Market Place, a late-C18 house, in 1896. The attached 20 Market Place was built in the mid-C18 incorporating the remains of a mid- to late C17 crosswing to the rear; it was the premises of the Norwich and Swaffham (Days) Bank in the early C19, and was later adapted for use as the school headmaster’s house. A detached prefabricated gymnasium was constructed to the rear of 18 Market Place around 1900, and later became a woodwork room. A single-storey classroom block was constructed to the rear of 20 Market Place in 1900, and a two-storey classroom block was added to the south-west end in 1912; a kitchen and WC block was added to the south-west in the early to mid-C20. A new gymnasium was constructed at the west boundary of the site in 1931, with an art room and physics laboratory on its upper floor. 18 Market Place was extended to the rear in 1954 with the addition of a two-storey library. Hamond’s Grammar School merged with the Secondary Modern School on Brandon Road in 1977, and the buildings on Market Place were utilised as a Sixth Form Centre until 2009.
Details
Gate piers, built in the mid-to late C18 and rebuilt in the C19, and attached boundary wall, built in the mid- to late C18.
MATERIALS: the gate piers are constructed of red brick with stone dressings, and the wall is constructed of red brick and rubble flint.
PLAN: the gate piers are square on plan and provide access from Whitsands Road to the south-west; from the east gate pier the boundary wall runs north-east for approximately 30m.
DESCRIPTION: the two gate piers are square on plan and constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond. The piers are surmounted by square stone bases, and carved stone vase finials with gadrooned decoration and pineapple caps. The gate piers support late-C20 metal gates. The boundary wall along the south-west boundary of the site, extends approximately 30m north-east from the east gate pier. The lower section of wall has bricks laid diagonally, the mid-height section of the north-west elevation has courses of flint rubble, and the wall is capped by six courses of conventionally laid red brick.
