Johnson Birthplace Museum
JOHNSON BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM, BREADMARKET STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1292492
- Date first listed:
- 05-Feb-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Johnson Birthplace Museum
- Statutory Address:
- JOHNSON BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM, BREADMARKET STREET
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-08-04
- Reference:
- IOE01/04650/01
- Rights:
- © Dr Anthea Hatfield. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1292492
- Date first listed:
- 05-Feb-1952
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 17-Jun-1994
- List Entry Name:
- Johnson Birthplace Museum
- Statutory Address 1:
- JOHNSON BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM, BREADMARKET STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- JOHNSON BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM, BREADMARKET STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Staffordshire
- District:
- Lichfield (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Lichfield
- National Grid Reference:
- SK 11730 09542
Details
LICHFIELD
SK1109NE BREADMARKET STREET 1094-1/5/65 (South West side) 05/02/52 Johnson Birthplace Museum (Formerly Listed as: BREADMARKET STREET Dr Johnson's House)
GV I
House and book shop, became museum 1901, now with book shop (1990). c1707. For Michael Johnson. Timber-frame with brick infill and stucco facades; tile M-roof, hipped to right end, brick stacks. Double-depth plan. Georgian style. 3 storeys; 5-window range. 1st floor jettied on 2 Tuscan columns and one Doric column to centre, all on simple plinths, frieze and cornice over; giant angle pilasters to upper floors; top modillioned timber cornice. Paired entrances have fielded-panel pilaster strips, friezes and cornices over 6-fielded-panel doors; opposed steps with wooden handrails. Ground floor has 2 windows to left end with 18-pane sashes with thick glazing bars, ovolo-moulded to interior, one to right end with 24-pane sash, all with moulded frames; 1st and 2nd floor windows have narrow sills and 18-pane sashes with thick glazing bars in moulded frames, but 2 to right end of 1st floor are later. Right return to Market Street has platt bands; entrance with small-paned overlight to 6-fielded-panel door with iron railings, with paired projecting windows to right with sill, entablature and 24-pane sashes; 9-pane sashes to upper windows, those to 2nd floor with thick glazing bars, and 2 hipped dormers with 9-pane sashes. Left return has exposed timber frame. Right end has wrought-iron sign bracket. Rear has 18-pane and 9-pane sashes; 2 gables. INTERIOR: dogleg staircase has column-on-vase balusters, square newels and moulded handrails; 1st floor has corner fireplace with Regency grate, similar fireplace to rear room; 2-panel door with H-L hinges; right end room has cornice, architraves and seats to windows and fireplace with overmantel; attic has stick balusters to staircase, exposed timber-framing and roof trusses. Dr Samuel Johnson, 1709-84, writer and lexicographer, son of Michael Johnson the bookseller, lived here until 1735. (Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Staffordshire: London: 1974-: P.194; Wilkinson R: Look at Lichfield: Lichfield: 1976-).
Listing NGR: SK1173009542
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 382614
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Wilkinson, R, Look at Lichfield, (1976)
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire, (1974), 194
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 25-Jun-2026 at 05:31:50.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.