38 Market Place

Summary

Former townhouse, built in the mid-C18, with a late-C18 extension at the rear. In 1821 the ground floor was remodelled as a chemists and druggists shop, and in around 2006 the upper floors were subdivided to create four flats.

Reasons for Designation

38 Market Place, a former townhouse built in the mid-C18, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for its symmetrical composition and well-executed design, which achieves a strong street presence;
* for the retention of C18 internal features, including cornices, panelled doors, dado panels and staircases, all illustrating its original function.

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. 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 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).

38 Market Place was built in the mid-C18 as a town house. In 1829 the building was acquired by a Mr William Smith, a surgeon and apothecary, who remodelled the ground floor to accommodate a chemist and druggist's shop. When the building was offered for sale by auction in 1880 it was described as an old established chemists shop, with a modern plate-glass front. The sales particulars also account for an entrance hall, dining room, two kitchens, storeroom and pantries on the ground floor, four bedrooms and a drawing room on the first floor, and five ‘attic’ rooms on the second floor. The particulars also describe a series of outbuildings at the rear, including a stable, chaise house, greenhouse, warehouses, and a large walled garden with a summerhouse. In around 2006 the upper floors were subdivided to create four flats, while the ground floor is still occupied by a pharmacy.

Details

Former townhouse, built in the mid-C18, with a late-C18 extension at the rear. In 1821 the ground floor was remodelled as a chemists and druggists shop, and in around 2006 the upper floors were subdivided to create four flats.

MATERIALS: of painted brick with a roof of black-glazed pantiles.

EXTERIOR: the building is of three storeys in five bays. The ground floor has a late-C20 double plate-glass shopfront with canted returns projecting across the three left-hand bays. To the fourth bay there is a four-panelled door with a pilastered surround while the fifth bay has C20 double doors within a corbelled doorcase giving access to the rear. On the first floor there are five six-over-six unhorned sashes and on the second floor there are five three-over three unhorned sashes. Above is a wide timber eaves to a bell-cast gabled roof, with internal gable-end stacks to the north and south.

INTERIOR: the ground floor was opened out in the early C20 to form a single retail area, although the former front room still retains a mid-C18 moulded cornice and a doorway in the south wall with a pulvinated frieze. A rear passageway leads to a late-C18 staircase extension with stick-baluster stairs with a ramped handrail and an arched staircase window. The first-floor front room has a moulded dentil cornice and six-panelled doors. The second-floor staircase landing has two fielded dado panels.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

460622

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

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

Other
Norfolk News, 2 October 1880, p10.

End of official list entry

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