31, 31b and 31c Market Place

Summary

Former town house, built around 1770, the ground floor and rear cross wing respectively converted to a gunsmiths shop and workshop in the early/mid-C19, with later C20 alterations for retail and commercial office use.

Reasons for Designation

31, 31b and 31c Market Place, Swaffham, a former town house built around 1770, with later alterations for commercial use, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a late-C18 former town house which, with its later alterations for commercial use, contributes to the character of an architecturally varied historic streetscape.

Historic interest:

* for the contribution it makes to the evolution of the historic Market Place and the development of the town.

Group value:

* it has historic and functional group value with many other listed buildings ranged around the Market Place.

History

Swaffham’s significance in the medieval period stemmed from its position on the crossroads of the main routes from London, Norwich and King’s Lynn. The first written record of a market in the town, which was established on a triangular-shaped area formed by the convergence of the aforementioned roads, was in 1215 when King John issued a royal writ to the Sherriff of Norfolk to abolish it should it ‘damage the market in Dunham’. It was never abolished and expanded rapidly. The Market Place was probably open to the church on its east side, but later C17 development closed this off, while the development of The Shambles in the middle in the late C18/early C19, further reduced the size of the open space. From the mid-C18, for a period of just over a hundred years, Swaffham became one of the most populous parishes in Norfolk and one of the most fashionable centres in the county, attracting many leading West Norfolk Families. A racecourse had been established by 1628, the Assembly Rooms were constructed in 1776-1778, subsequently extended and modernised in 1817, and George Walpole, the Third Earl of Orford (1730-1791), founded a coursing club in 1786. During this period of prosperity much rebuilding took place around the Market Place and the overall character of the town is primarily of mid-late Georgian in date, although there is evidence for C16-C17 work behind many façades. Further rebuilding also took place after ‘The Great Fire of Swaffham’, which probably started in the vicinity of the Blue Boar Inn (now the White Hart) on the afternoon of 14 November 1775, when it was set ablaze by a spark from a nearby blacksmith’s workshop. Fire soon engulfed the densely packed houses and workshops behind the inn and along London Road, with 22 buildings being completely destroyed and a further two badly damaged. The town continued to expand in the C19 when its population increased from 2,200 in 1800 to 3,350 in 1845. It also became an important local administrative centre during this period and acquired several notable buildings, including a National School (1838), Shire Hall (1839) and Corn Hall (1858).

31 Market Place was built around 1770 as a town house. By 1861 the building had become the home and business premises of William Parson (1808-1872), a master gunsmith, and his wife, Mary. It is possible that William took over a local gun manufacturing business which was established in the early C19 by James Sutton (1795-1849), who is known to have been living and operating in the Market Place area of Swaffham prior to his death. On William Parson's death in 1872, the home and business passed to Thomas Johnson (1820-1892), one of William's former apprentices, who continued to trade under the William Parson name for a short time before trading under his own name. In around 1883, the business name changed to Thomas Johnson and Son, after Thomas's son, William Parson Johnson (1850-1917), started working with his father. Thomas continued to reside at number 31 at this time, while William and his wife, Loveday, and daughter, Florence, lived in a house to the north of Swaffham, at Providence Terrace. On his father's death in 1892, William and his family moved to the Market Place premises, where he continued to manufacture and repair guns until his death in 1917. The business was subsequently acquired by Lionel George Clough, a gunsmith from King’s Lynn, who appointed Alfred Brewster as manager in around 1920. In about 1948, Alfred became the owner, and ran the business until he retired in 1959. It is possible that the building's rear cross wing (now separately occupied by numbers 31b and 31c Market Place) was occupied by workshops until it was subdivided in the second half of the C20. Number 31 later became a confectioners shop, trading as Cordwells in the 1970s, and then an estate agents, the latter also occupying number 33 Market Place (separately listed at Grade II) since the mid-1980s. Number 31b has been recorded as a hairdressers since the 1970s, while number 31c is now (2024) a holistic and beauty therapy salon.

Details

Former town house, built around 1770, the ground floor and rear cross wing respectively converted to a gunsmiths shop and workshop in the early/mid-C19, with later C20 alterations for retail and commercial office use.

MATERIALS: of red brick in Flemish bond with a pantile roof and brick stacks.

PLAN: the building is L-shaped on plan, with the principal range (number 31) fronting Market Place on an east to west alignment, while a rear cross wing (numbers 31b and 31c) runs parallel with Ash Close on a roughly north-to-south alignment.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation to Market Place is of two storeys in three bays, although attic dormers were removed in the C20. To the centre of the ground floor there is a half-glazed, two-panelled door with a fanlight in a pilastered surround with minor incised decoration and a plain entablature. It is flanked on each side by two plate-glass display windows with pilastered surrounds, moulded cills and plain entablatures. On the first floor there are three six-over-six horned sashes under gauged skewback arches. Above is a dentilled cornice. The gabled roof has truncated internal gable-end stacks to the east and west. The west gable-end has an attic platband and tumbling.

The rear elevation is formed of a gabled range which is of red brick with burnt brick headers in Flemish bond, the majority of which has been cement rendered. At the centre of the ground floor there is a C20 half-glazed door, above which is a six-over-six unhorned sash, while the attic has a C20 top-opening casement. A brick stack rises from the apex of the gable.

The rear cross wing to Ash Close is of two storeys with a dormer attic. Its ground floor has a C19 door to number 31b and a C20 door to number 31c. To the right-hand side of the door to number 31b there is a staircase window consisting of two-over-two unhorned sash with margin lights of coloured glass. On the first floor there are two six-over-six unhorned sashes immediately above each door. All openings with gauged cambered arches. To the roof there are two gabled C18 dormers with two-light casements.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

460616

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Wilson, B, The Buildings of England: Norfolk 2: North-West and South, (2002), 679-680
Swaffham History Group, , The Book of Swaffham: The Story of a Norfolk Market Town, (2021)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.