53, 55 and 57 Market Place

Summary

Former town house, built in the mid-C19, remodelled as a pair of shops with living accommodation above around 1912, with late-C20 and early-C21 shopfronts.

Reasons for Designation

53, 55 and 57 Market Place, a former town house of mid-C19 date, remodelled as a pair of shops with living accommodation above around 1912, with late-C20 and early-C21 shopfronts, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a mid-C19 former town house which, with 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).

53, 55 and 57 Market Place were originally built in the mid-C19 as a single town house, but by the late C19 the ground floor had been remodelled as a grocers and drapers shop. By around 1910, the ground floor was subdivided to create two shop units. It is believed that number 53 continued in use as a grocers and drapers while number 55 sold fruit, confectionery and flowers. During the mid-C20 number 53 became a butchers shop and traded as such until it closed in 1985. It subsequently became a charity shop, for which a new shop front was installed, and by 2019 it was occupied by an estate agents, for which a new shopfront was also installed. Since 2021 it has been occupied by London Nails, a nail and beauty salon.

It is also believed that number 55 was trading as a butchers shop by 1939. During the second half of the C20 it was occupied by a several different businesses, including a bric-a-brac shop (1950s), sports shop (1970s), jewellers (1980s), mobile phone shop (late 1990s/2000s) and a picture framers (2010s). Since 2018 it has operated as a retail shop.

Details

Former town house, built in the mid-C19, remodelled as a pair of shops with living accommodation above around 1912, with late-C20 and early-C21 shopfronts.

MATERIALS: of colourwashed and rendered brick, scored to imitate ashlar, with brick stacks and a roof of black-glazed pantiles.

EXTERIOR: the Market Place elevation is of three storeys in three bays. On the ground floor, from right to left, there is an early-C21 shopfront to number 53 and a late-C20 shopfront to number 55, both with plate glass windows and half-glazed doors. At the right-hand end there is a half-glazed door of two lights to the upper-storey living accommodation (number 57), set within a pilastered surround with corbels, a plain fascia and a deep fanlight. The first and second floors are lit by two-over-two horned sashes of which those on the first floor are taller and have lintels with painted keystones. Above is an overhanging dentilled eaves cornice. The roof is gabled and has stacks at the east and west ends, the latter rebuilt in the C20.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

460626

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

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