39 Westgate Street

Summary

A shop and dwelling, originating in the late C16 as the eastern half of a two-bay building; extended to the rear soon after construction; the front range was then rebuilt in the early C19. The structure has undergone a C21 renovation.

Reasons for Designation

39 Westgate Street is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a multi-phase building with significant fabric surviving from its principal phases of development in the C16 and early C19;
* illustrating the typical evolution of the commercial buildings of the locality, where the timber-framed façade was ‘improved’ through reconstruction in brick, presenting a polite elevation to the commercial thoroughfare, while retaining good-quality close-studded C16 timber framing to the rear range;
* containing a C16 wall painting, revealed and conserved as part of the C21 renovation;
* internally, retaining timber framing illustrating the evolution of the C16 rear range, and early-C19 decorative features within the front range.

Historic interest:

* for its origins as a single building with the adjacent 41 Westgate Street, where documentary records chronicle its use and occupancy, which together with surviving fabric provides evidence of the evolution of the building;
* as one of an extensive group of listed buildings which illustrate the historic development and commercial history of one of Gloucester’s principal streets.

Group value:

* with the adjacent listed building, 41 Westgate Street, with which it shares a common history.

History

Westgate Street has long represented a vital thoroughfare in Gloucester. It forms part of the cruciform arrangement of streets which sit in alignment with the original Roman street plan of the city. Of the four principal streets laid out, Westgate Street was particularly important, as it connected the centre of the city with the quays on the River Severn, and with the bridge over the river with road routes to the west into Wales. In the medieval period, Westgate Street formed part of the main commercial hub of the city.

39 and 41 Westgate Street are two separately-listed multi-phase structures which recent research has shown originated as a single building. The history of the building plots has been well documented (Lane, 2023), and informs our understanding of the development of the present structure on the site. The plots have been built upon since the C12 or C13, and in the late C16 came under a single occupation and underwent reconstruction, creating a two-bay two-storey timber-framed building which ran parallel to the street front. This building was jettied along the north, street-front elevation, at least in the western bay, and probably originally the eastern bay as well. Whether the jetty returned along the east elevation, along Bull Lane, is unclear. The ground floor would have contained a commercial unit within each bay, whereas the first floor and attic were single spaces. Beneath the western bay, number 41, is a vaulted brick cellar, probably contemporary with the late-C16 rebuilding. The corresponding cellar in number 39 is inaccessible, but would likely have followed the same pattern.

Number 39 was extended to the rear soon after the late-C16 construction of the front range. Fabric provides evidence that the rear range was not contemporary, though was likely to have been built only a few years later than the principal range, with which it has stylistic similarities. The extension was of two bays, jettied along Bull Lane.

The building returned to use as two separate tenements, possibly at the point that the rear range was constructed, but certainly by the mid-C17. The formerly open-plan first and attic floors of the building were subdivided in two by timber-framed partitions.

A major phase of alteration occurred in the early C19, when the C16 front bay was rebuilt in brick. This provided increased storey heights and a full-height top floor, and it appears that the roof to the rear range was raised at the same time. The building was extended further to the south, beyond the C16 rear range, in the mid-C20.

The building underwent a refurbishment in 2023, with the conversion of the upper floors into flats. As part of the work, a C19 stair was removed from the rear range and revealed a previously unknown wall painting, comprising two early schemes and later imitation skirtings. Of these, the first scheme, depicting an imitation oak panelled dado and textile above the mid rail, survived best and has been conserved.

Details

A shop and dwelling, originating in the late C16 as the eastern half of a two-bay building; extended to the rear soon after construction; the front range was then rebuilt in the early C19. The structure has undergone a C21 renovation.

MATERIALS: the front block is red brick laid in Flemish and English Garden Wall bonds, painted to the principal elevation. The upper floors of the C16 rear range are timber-framed and rendered, with a first-floor jetty on the west side of Bull Lane underbuilt in brick. The building has a slate roof.

PLAN: the building stands at the junction of Westgate Street and Bull Lane. It is a narrow, linear range, consisting of the C19 block to the north-east, whose principal elevation faces onto Westgate Street, and the C16 range adjoining to the south-west, facing onto Bull Lane.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation is a single bay and of three storeys. The ground floor has a late-C20 shopfront with a recessed entry to the left, with a plain panel fascia above. The two upper floors each have a one-over-one horned sash window in a flat-arched opening with stepped-and-raised voussoirs and projecting stone sill. Above is a moulded cornice and a high brick parapet. The front range of the elevation to Bull Lane is blind brick, rendered along the base. Beyond, to the left, are the two timber-framed bays surviving from the C16. These have a jettied first floor, supported on two timber posts with knee braces, with brick infill and under-building. The projecting timber-framed first floor has a close-studded elevation, rendered above. Fenestration is within irregular openings, replaced in the C21. The south-westernmost bay along Bull Lane, adjacent to the timber-framed range, dates from the C20. The roof, hidden by the parapet, is pitched with a hip at the north-east end.

INTERIOR: within the front range the shop unit has modern finishes, though an exposed chamfered storey post is understood to survive. On the upper floors, there are various early-C19 features, including reeded plaster cornices, moulded architraves, panelled doors and skirtings. The timber-framed partition within the front range of the adjacent no 41 is concealed behind modern finishes.

Within the C16 rear range, various timbers are left exposed, including part of the southern truss, pre-dating the C19 raising of the roof. There is a fireplace and a small cupboard on the north wall, probably dating to the C18.

A stair was built within the rear range as part of the C19 redevelopment. This was removed in the C21 to reveal a scheme of wall painting. This has been conserved and depicts an oak panelled dado and tapestry above.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

472624

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
39 Westgate Street, Gloucester, Monument Number: 42440, Gloucestershire County Council Historic Environment Record, accessed 10 February 2024. from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=42440&resourceID=108

Other
39 Westgate St, Gloucester: Report on the Recently Discovered Wall Painting, Andrea Kirkham, June 2023.
[Draft Report] 39-41 Westgate Street, Gloucester: Historic Building Assessment, Rebecca Lane, Historic England, 2023.

End of official list entry

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