Summary
Former house, built in the early C18, converted to an estate agents and auctioneers in the mid-C20, altered with a new shopfront in the late C20.
Reasons for Designation
33 Market Place, Swaffham, a former house of early C18 date, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as an early-C18 former house which, with its later conversion to 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- to 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).
33 Market Place was probably built as a house in the early C18. Little is known of its subsequent history until 1958 when it had become an estate agency. In the late C20, a new shopfront was installed and the six-over-six sash window on the first floor was replaced with a two-over-two sash.
Details
Former house, built in the early C18, converted to an estate agency in the mid-C20, altered with a new shop front and first-floor window in the late C20.
MATERIALS: the ground floor is of C20 brick and the first floor is of rendered and whitewashed flint and brick. The roof is covered with black-glazed pantiles, with some later repairs in red pantile, and the stack is of brick.
EXTERIOR: the principal elevation to Market Place is of two storeys in a narrow single bay. Its ground floor comprises a late-C20 shopfront with a plate-glass display window and a half-glazed door. On the first floor, there is a late-C20 two-over-two horned sash. The internal gable-end stack at the west end of the roof is shared with 33 Market Place (listed separately at Grade II).
