13 Market Place

Summary

House and shop, built in the mid-C19, with later C19 and C20 alterations.

Reasons for Designation

13 Market Place, Swaffham, a mid-C19 house and shop, with later C19 and C20 alterations, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a mid-C19 house and shop which 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).

13 Market Place was built in the mid-C19 as a house and shop. From around 1854, the building was occupied by Henry and Sarah Arnold, who ran the shop as a tea and coffee merchants, whilst also running a grocers and drapery from the adjoining building at 14 Market Place. Following the death of Henry Arnold in 1855, the business was continued by his son, Henry Thomas Arnold, who ran it until his death in 1903. It was subsequently taken over by Henry and Fred Banner, who also ran a grocers on London Street. Although it continued as a tea and coffee merchants, by the time it closed in 1979 it was operating as a convenience store. Since 1981 it has been occupied by a travel agents.

Details

House and shop, built in the mid-C19, with later C19 and C20 alterations.

MATERIALS: of rendered and colour-washed brick, scored to imitate ashlar, with a pantile roof.

PLAN: it is U-shaped in plan with the principal range fronting Market Place on a north to south alignment, and two gabled cross wings at the rear.

EXTERIOR: the building is of three storeys in two bays. On the ground floor there is a late-C20 shop front with a central glazed door flanked by plate glass windows divided into six lights by horizontal and vertical glazing bars. To the left-hand side of the shop front there is a six-panelled door within a plain pilastered doorcase with a plain entablature and fanlight. On the first floor there are two two-over-two horned sashes, and on the second floor there are two two-over-two unhorned sashes. The right-hand return has an irregular fenestration pattern, including two two-over-two horned sashes to the ground floor and a six-over-six horned sash to the first floor.

INTERIOR: the ground floor has been opened out as a continuous retail space.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

460601

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

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

Websites
Photograph dated 1925 from the Picture Norfolk website, accessed 10 October 2023 from https://norfolk.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&BRN=1135274

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