Summary
House, built in the early C17, later divided in two; cellar now accessed via 1 Market Place.
Reasons for Designation
26, 27 and 27A Market Place are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a historic commercial building of architectural quality, occupying the north-west side of Market Place;
* for the survival of its historic timber structure, constructed in the early C17, likely immediately after the fire of 1600, with alterations around 1630.
Historic interest:
* for the contribution this historic commercial building makes to the evolution of Market Place and the historic town of North Walsham.
Group value:
* for the historic functional group its forms with other listed commercial buildings on Market Place.
History
The settlement of (North) Walsham was owned by the Abbey of St Benet at Holme by the early C11 and was recorded in the Domesday survey (1086). The town had an established market by 1275, helped by the local wool trade, especially following the arrival of Flemish weavers in the C14. Lightweight ‘Walsham’ cloth reflects the town’s significant position in the wool and weaving industry. The large size of the medieval parish church of St Nicholas expresses some of the prosperity derived from the trade.
Much of the town’s medieval fabric was destroyed by fire in the summer of 1600, including 118 houses, 70 shops and warehouses, and even more barns, stables, malthouses and outhouses. The town changed in the reconstruction, with new building styles and materials used, but the layout of the marketplace and the narrow width of plots remained. Despite the declining wool trade, the town remained a significant market centre as an agricultural trading point and, from the early C19, a place of manufacturing. The North Walsham and Dilham Canal was opened in 1826, and by the end of the C19 the town had two railway stations.
26 and 27 Market Place, now two properties, were originally constructed as one building in the early C17, as is evidenced by their continuous roof. Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) of the ceiling frames of the cellar, ground floor, first floor and attic, demonstrates that the timber structure dates to the early C17, likely immediately after the fire of 1600, with alterations around the 1630s. The cellar (now known as 27A Market Place), is accessed via 1 Market Place (the curved building at the corner of Market Place and Market Street), and may represent an early cellar tavern. The building was likely split into two in the C18. Comparison with historic photos shows the shopfront of number 26 was altered in the mid-C20. Number 27 formerly had a wooden shopfront with pilasters and a central entrance however this was replaced in the late C20.
Details
House, built in the early C17, later divided in two; cellar now accessed via 1 Market Place.
MATERIALS: the roof has a pantile covering; the walls are constructed of red brick and flint and rendered.
PLAN: the building is roughly L-shaped on plan, facing east to Market Place, and projecting westwards to the rear.
EXTERIOR: this two-and-half storey building was built in the early C17 and split in two in the C18, with number 26 having a single bay and number 27 having two bays. The roof is pitched and gabled to the north and south, with a pantile covering and two dormer casement windows to the front (east) slope, and a truncated chimneystack to both the north and south gables. The walls are constructed of red brick and flint and rendered with an eaves cornice. 26 Market Place has a mid-C20 box bay window to the left side of the ground floor with plain astragal-moulded mullions and transoms, a simple cornice and low stallriser. A doorway to the right side has a flat shallow canopy, fluted pilasters to each side, panelled reveals and a late-C20 half-glazed door. The first floor has a single window with a six-over-six pane sash window without horns in a flush flat-arched frame. 27 Market Place has a late-C20 shopfront to the ground floor, two bays of late-C20 sash windows with horns to the first floor in flush flat-arched frames, and a dormer window to the attic containing late-C20 casements.
INTERIOR: the interior of the two buildings retains massive stop chamfered beams and cross beams; dendrochronology undertaken in 2021 demonstrates that these timbers date from the early C17. The roof comprises six principal rafter and collar trusses, and evidence of thatch survives near the dormer window of number 27. At ground floor level, within the main range of the building are some large, chamfered ceiling beams. Two other ground-floor ceiling beams are located towards the rear of the building. Also visible within this range at first-floor level, are three main ceiling beams. Within the cellar (now known as 27A Market Place and accessed via 1 Market Street), ceiling timbers are also visible. The cellar features five pointed-arched chambers or side cellars, two on each of the east and west walls, and one on the south wall.
