2 Market Place

Summary

House built around 1770, with an extension to the west side around 1860; later converted to offices.

Reasons for Designation

2 Market Place is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for its multi-phased construction, built as a house around 1770 and extended to the west side as a commercial building around 1860;
* as an attractive historic commercial building, which contributes to the architectural character and diversity of Swaffham’s historic Market Place.

Historic interest:

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

Group value:

* for its proximity to and strong visual relationship with other listed buildings on 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).

2 Market Place was built around 1770 as a house and is shown on Faden’s ‘Plan of the Town of Swaffham’ (1797) attached to the north side of the Assembly Room. A west extension was constructed around 1860 and is shown on the 1884 Ordnance Survey map; the building was converted to offices some time later. 2 Market Place was listed at Grade II in 1973.

Details

House built around 1770, with an extension to the west side around 1860; later converted to offices.

MATERIALS: The roofs have pantile and concrete tile coverings, and the walls are constructed of red brick, partly rendered.

PLAN: The building is roughly rectangular on plan: the east part was built around 1770, and the west part added around 1860, with a canted north-west angle.

EXTERIOR: The east range is three storeys high and has a pitched roof gabled to the north and south, with a concrete tile and pantile covering, and an internal gable-end stack to the south. The east range is constructed of red brick laid in English bond, and its north gable is rendered. The east elevation has a single late-C19 two-light casement window to each floor. The three-storey extension to the west side has a hipped roof with a concrete tile and pantile covering. The walls are of red brick laid in Flemish bond with a dentil eaves course and feature a single bay of windows to the west elevation and canted north-west angle. On the west elevation, the ground floor shopfront has a renewed plate-glass display window with a hood and canopy box. The first and second floors each have a three-over-three horned sash window under segmental gauged arches. The canted angle has a half-glazed C20 door with dentil cornice above, and single-pane sash windows with horns to the first and second floors under segmental gauged arches.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

460592

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Wilson, B, The Buildings of England: Norfolk 2: North-West and South, (2002), p681
Swaffham History Group, , The Book of Swaffham: The Story of a Norfolk Market Town, (2021)

Websites
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, ‘No.2 Market Place, NHER 46445’, accessed 19 February 2024 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF51481

Other
Faden, Plan of the Town of Swaffham (1797)
Unpublished research – Swaffham Cultural Consortium and Swaffham History Group

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