9 South Street

Summary

Dwelling with possible ground floor shop constructed in the mid-to late-C18 with alterations during the late-C20.

History

The town of Leominster traces its origins to the establishment of a religious house there during the C7 or earlier. The Saxon settlement endured repeated Viking raids and is recorded as a sizeable town in the Domesday Book (1086), with 27 households. In the early-C12, King Henry I established a Benedictine Priory in the town and granted a foundation charter for the town’s market. The town thrived throughout the later medieval period, despite periodic unrest due to its location in the border region. Leominster wool was prized across Europe and bestowed considerable wealth upon the town. The town centre retains many medieval and early-modern buildings; secular buildings are timber framed while surviving Priory buildings are constructed of local sandstone. The town centre retains an essentially medieval street pattern, with long, narrow burgage plots fronting the north-south spine road of Broad Street-High Street-South Street, and Corn Square (the historic market place) lying to the east of the High Street. The remains of the Priory, dissolved in 1539, lie to the north-east of the town centre. The town remained a prominent local centre into the C18 and C19. During this period, many timber-framed buildings replaced (or refronted) by brick buildings with Classical elevations. Many houses in the town centre were partially converted to commercial use and equipped with shopfronts during the later C19 and C20.

9 South Street was constructed in the mid-to late-C18, perhaps on the site on an earlier building. It was built as a house, possibly with commercial premises on the ground floor. The building has occupied the same L-shaped footprint since at least 1885. A timber shopfront was installed on the ground floor of the principal, west elevation in the mid to late-C20. The building is currently in use as a shop on the ground floor, with accommodation above (2022).

Details

Dwelling with possible ground floor shop constructed in the mid-to late-C18 with alterations during the late-C20.

MATERIALS: the building is of painted brickwork in Flemish bond with a timber shopfront and a slate roof covering.

PLAN: the building occupies an L-shaped plan with a principal range fronting South Street to the west and a rear range extending eastward along the southern plot boundary.

EXTERIOR: the building is of three storeys across two bays onto South Street under a pitched roof. The C20, ground-floor shopfront comprises recessed doorway and shop window set at an angle to the street with an additional shop window set parallel with the street, all raised on a tiled step and flanked by a pair of timber pilasters. To the left (north) of the shopfront is a door to the flats above flanked by pilasters (one being shared with the shopfront). Over all is a moulded, lead-coped, timber fascia board. Above, the first and second floors each contain a pair of timber sash windows with rendered, flat-arched heads and stucco cills. The first-floor windows have eight-over-eight glazing, while the second-floor windows are horizontal (Yorkshire) sliding sashes with six-by-six glazing. There is a dog-tooth dentillated eaves course. To the rear (east) is a two-storey extension under a pitched roof.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

459773

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Brooks, A, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Herefordshire, (2012), 442-443

Other
OS Map 25” (1885 edn), Herefordshire XII.15.
OS Map 25” (1927 edn) Herefordshire XII.15.

End of official list entry

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