15, High Street

Reasons for Designation

No. 15 Dartford High Street is listed at Grade II for reasons which include:
* the exterior is of special interest for its scale, proportions, hipped roof and sash windows which identify the building as Georgian in date. The narrow width of the building hints at the site's early origins and the fragment of timber in the rear elevation is of historic interest as an indicator of the tendency to re-front rather than rebuild in the early modern period
* above the ground floor, No. 15 survives largely unaltered and the plan form is intact
* there are a number of survivals of historic features including the staircase, two fireplaces, a round-arched alcove, three built-in cupboards and some slender partitioning
* the building has group value with the other listed buildings on the High Street

Details

741/0/10012

HIGH STREET
15

06-NOV-07

GV
II
Terraced house, late-C18 or early-C19, with possibly earlier range to the rear. Minor later alterations and late-C20 shop at ground-floor level.

EXTERIOR: The narrow single-bay frontage to the High Street has a modern shop front in a traditional style on the ground-floor, a modern pair of sash windows in a single opening (which replaced a C19 bay window) on the first-floor and a single sash window which appears to be original on the upper storey. The brick building has been stuccoed on this elevation and has a tiled hipped roof and chimneys supported by the party walls to each side of the frontage.

To the rear is an abutting range orientated east-west, which is no wider than the frontage. This has a pitched roof, a Georgian sash window in the western gable and a single exposed timber, a diagonal brace, in the southern wall; the latter also contains a sash window at ground floor level.

INTERIOR: Retains a significant proportion of Georgian fabric on the first and second floors. The staircase with its plain handrail, stick balusters and square newel post survives at these levels as does simple lath and plaster work and some slightly reeded plank panelling. There are two fireplaces, in the front rooms on both floors, which have understated timber surrounds and iron grates; that on the first-floor is slightly larger and the surround contains two fluted columns and no sill. There is a round-arched alcove in the first-floor front room and several wall cupboards with the original shelving still in place (two on the first-floor, below the alcove in the front room and next to the staircase, and a third on the staircase). The cornices, skirting boards, doors and architraves survive from the early-C19. The first and second floors are accessed from the upper room in the rear range, a single cell two-storey structure that contains few original features inside (the small winder staircase could be C19), although this range may well be earlier than the front section. Neither roof structure was inspected. There is nothing surviving at ground-floor level which has a late-C20 shop interior.

The plan form, which comprises two rooms divided by a partition with a staircase to the rear and a second, interconnected single cell range to the south, is intact. There is little evidence that the staircase once continued to the ground-floor and the upper floors appear to have always been accessed via the rear range.

HISTORY: The north part of 15 High Street, facing the street, is Georgian, most likely dating to the late-C18 or early-C19. A single exposed timber to the rear part of the building suggests there could be older fabric in this section of the building, particularly the roof. The building appears on a mid-C19 print with a bay window on the first floor which was removed in the second half of the C20, a period which also saw the refurbishment of the ground-floor.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:

* the exterior is of special interest for its scale, proportions, hipped roof and sash windows which identify the building as Georgian in date. The narrow width of the building hints at the site's early origins and the fragment of timber in the rear elevation is of historic interest as an indicator of the tendency to re-front rather than rebuild in the early modern period
* above the ground floor, No. 15 survives largely unaltered and the plan form is intact
* there are a number of survivals of historic features including the staircase, two fireplaces, a round-arched alcove, three built-in cupboards and some slender partitioning
* the building has group value with the other listed buildings on the High Street

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

503441

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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