30 High Street

Summary

30 High Street, Newport, is an early- to mid-C19 house with ground-floor shop.

Reasons for Designation

30 High Street, Newport, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:  
 
Architectural interest:

* as a C19 building which contributes to the character of an architecturally varied historic streetscape. 
 
Historic interest:

* as part of the urban development of Newport’s historic core.  
 
Group value:

* the building is in close proximity to a large number of listed buildings and forms part of a strong historic grouping.

History

Newport’s first charter was granted by Richard de Redvers, fourth Earl of Devon in the late C12 and this is generally regarded as marking its foundation. The settlement was laid out on the low-lying ground along the western bank of the River Medina using a grid-style plan. Recent topographic analysis suggests that Newport may have developed around an existing informal trading settlement located at the head of Medina estuary, in the vicinity of Sea and Quay Street (Alexander, 2021). The High Street is one of five east-west running streets within the grid layout. High Street and Pyle Street extend the full length of the grid, divided by a market square, and form the planned core of Newport, with other shorter parallel streets to the south (South Street) and north (Lugley and Crocker Street). They were all largely in place by the mid-C13. 

In the C14, Isle of Wight was frequently subject to raids by French forces during long-running conflicts between England and France. According to historical documents, during one of the raids in 1377 Newport was severely damaged by fire and much of the population fled to Carisbrooke Castle. It appears that Newport was functioning again a few years later. During this century, records indicate that the population of Newport did decrease, most likely due to several wider economic factors, and did not significantly increase until the mid-C17. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1608 under a new charter granted by James I. Newport did not significantly expand beyond its medieval limits until around the late C18. By the mid-C19 there had been a more significant expansion of the town, including the development of its suburbs, which continued into the C20. 

30 High Street dates from the early to mid-C19, and appears on the 1864, first edition Ordnance Survey map with the same footprint as today, including the long southern extension running behind the line of the buildings which face on to the eastern side of St Thomas’s Square. The shopfront is thought to date from later in the C19.

Details

Early to mid-C19 house with ground-floor shop.

MATERIALS: the principal, north-facing elevation is in vitrified purple-grey brick, laid in header bond, with red-brick window-surrounds and quoins. The windows have timber sash frames. The pitched roof is covered with slate, and there are brick stacks.

PLAN: the building is roughly square on plan, with long narrow rear extension to the south east.

EXTERIOR: the building is three storeys high, with the shopfront occupying the ground floor. The shopfont has a recessed central glazed door between canted plate-glass windows with arched transom lights. There are slender colonettes to the corners and plain stallrisers and fascia. The shopfront is framed by Doric pilasters with fluted capitals; a third pilaster creates a doorcase to the east, which contains a recessed door of six fielded panels (the central panels glazed) beneath a rectangular fanlight. At first-floor level are two large oriel windows. At second-floor level are four square windows with two-over-two sash frames. Between the two easternmost windows a seam of red brick marks a slight change in plain, with the façade stepping back to meet that of the neighbouring building. The rear parts of the building are enclosed by other buildings.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

309533

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Other
Isle of Wight Council, Newport Conservation Area Appraisal (2007)
Alexander, Magnus, Newport, Isle of Wight, High Street Heritage Action Zone: Topographic Analysis of the Late Medieval Town, Historic England Research Report 49/2021, (November 2021)

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