32-36 Willow Street

Summary

House, built in the late C16 or early C17, later converted to commercial premises and extensively altered in the late C19 and C20.

History

Although evidence of Roman and Saxon settlement within Oswestry is sparse, the existence of a large and remarkably well-preserved Iron Age hill fort to the north of the town centre points to a long history of settlement in the area. A motte and bailey castle was constructed shortly after the Norman conquest (1066), and the town appears to have developed in its present location from the C12 onwards, initially to the south of the castle mound. The town was defended by walls and a ditch, although its defensive roll ceased to be important by the late medieval period; the tight network of streets in the town centre represents the development of the land within the bailey to the south and west of the castle mound during the C14-C16. During this period the town flourished as a market for Welsh wool and cloth. The late-medieval and early modern town was largely timber-framed, although today fairly few examples survive from the C15 to C17, often hidden behind later brick facades.

The town developed a newfound importance during the later C18 as a coaching station on the London to Holyhead road. Many buildings in the town centre are of the late C18 and early C19, typically built in red brick and often stuccoed. A rapid expansion in housing followed the establishment of a Cambrian Railway works site to the east of the town centre in 1866. The town’s continued prominence as a regional centre by the late C19 is reflected in the grand, Free Renaissance-style Guildhall of 1893, among other contemporary municipal and commercial buildings. The C20 brought piecemeal rebuilding of the town centre and the growth of suburbs, particularly to the east of the railway. Oswestry’s train station closed to passengers in 1966.

Willow Street is believed to have formed the south-west boundary of the former bailey. It had been developed as a street lined with buildings by the late C16 and possibly earlier. The front range of 32-36 Willow Street was probably constructed during the late C16 or early C17, and contains extensive fragments of its original timber frame. A rear range, along the eastern plot boundary, may preserve the footprint and some fragmentary fabric of a contemporary rear range but appears to have been mostly rebuilt after 1873. Most likely built as a domestic property, the building was extensively altered during the late C19 when it was refronted in brick with a large timber shopfront, and extended to the rear (north). Since that time, the building has been in commercial use across both floors. A further, single-storey extension was added to the rear (north) in the mid- to late-C20. The first floor is currently (2022) in the process of conversion to residential use, while the ground floor is in use as a shop. Recent renovation of the ground-floor commercial unit revealed the a fireplace with a large bressumer, containing a C19 cooking range.

Details

House, built in the late C16 or early C17, later converted to commercial premises and extensively altered in the late C19 and C20.

MATERIALS: the front (south) elevation is of painted brickwork with a timber and glazed shopfront, concealing a timber frame structure inside. The roof covering is slate.

PLAN: the building has an L-shaped plan, with a principle, rectangular front range facing Willow Street to the south and a rear wing projecting north along the eastern plot
boundary. A later, C20 extension partially infills the return, while a further C20, single storey extension lies offset to the north of the rear wing.

EXTERIOR: the building is two storeys in height across four bays onto Willow Street under a pitched roof. The principal, south elevation is symmetrically arranged. The ground-floor shopfront, which extends across all four bays, comprises a central, recessed entrance flanked by two pairs of large, plate-glass shop windows and a timber fascia board across the entire shopfront. Each bay is flanked by a pair of fluted pilasters and beneath each window is a low, brick base. The entrance comprises a late C20 door within a late C19 or early C20 surround with a rectangular overlight. Above the fascia board is an awning retracted into the shopfront, attached to the pilasters via metal poles. The first floor is very low and contains four, C20, timber casements directly below a timber fascia board.

INTERIOR: the interior contains areas of exposed timber framing, including chamfered ceiling beams to the ground-floor rooms with straight-cut stops and joists, and square panelling to the cross walls upstairs. In front of the main entrance is a large, inglenook fireplace with a chamfered bressumer and a C19 cast iron range. The roof is understood to be constructed in four bays with a cambered tie beams to the east gable end.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

255591

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Other
OS map 25”, Shropshire XII.14 (1873 edn)
OS map 25”, Shropshire XII.14 (1924 edn).
Newman, J, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Shropshire (2006), pp.454 and 461.
Richard K Morriss & Associates, 32-36 Willow Street, Oswestry: An Heritage Impact Assessment(2020)

End of official list entry

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