35 Market Place

Summary

Former two-storey house, built in the late C18, converted to a printing office in the mid-C19, raised to three storeys in the mid-C20, with later C20 and early C21 alterations for retail use.

Reasons for Designation

35 Market Place, a former two-storey house built in the late-C18, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a late-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 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 with The Shambles being established at its centre in the C17. The Market Place was probably open to the church on its east side, but later C17 development closed this off, while the redevelopment of The Shambles in the late C18/early C19 resulted in the further loss of open market 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).

35 Market Place started life in the late C18 as a two-storey house. By the mid-1860s it is believed to have become the home and business premises of Alfred Farr, a book seller and printer. Alfred continued to trade in Swaffham until 1885, when the business was then taken over by William Coe (1851-1928), one of his former apprentices. Along with its role as a printing office, the building also housed the town’s post office until 1895, along with a library and reading room. In the early C20 the daily running of the business passed to William's second son, Ernest Coe (1879-1942), who was probably responsible for raising the height of the building to three storeys. On Ernest’s death in 1942, the business passed to his son, William Coe, who expanded it to include a newsagents. In the early 1970s the business was acquired by a national newsagent operator who established a post office at the shop in 1992. In the 2000s it became an estate agentcy and then a charity shop in 2020.

Details

Former two-storey house, built in the late-C18 date, converted to a printing office in the mid-C19, raised to three storeys in the mid-C20, with later C20 and early C21 alterations for retail use.

MATERIALS: or red brick in Flemish bond with a slate roof and brick stacks.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation is of three storeys in three bays. On the ground floor there is an off-centre left doorway with an half-glazed door in a pilastered surround with a plain entablature. It is flanked to its right by a three-light, square bay shop window and to its left by a second half-glazed door, also with a pilastered surround with a shallow hood, all of late-C20/early-C21 date, over which is a gauged skewback arch from a late-C18 window opening. Each floor above has three two-over-two horned sashes, with those on the first floor beneath gauged skewback heads. Between the two floors is a shallow brick frieze. The roof is gabled roof has rebuilt internal gable-end stacks to the north and south.

INTERIOR: the ground floor has been opened out into single retail space.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

460620

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Swaffham History Group, , The Book of Swaffham: The Story of a Norfolk Market Town, (2021)

Websites
Photograph of 35 Market Place taken in 1950, from the Picture Norfolk website, accessed 10 October 2023 from https://norfolk.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&BRN=1135541

End of official list entry

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