Cellars beneath 10-14 (even) Silver Street

Summary

Cellar, formerly used as a bonded store, built circa 1702 and extended 1781.

Reasons for Designation

The cellar beneath 10, 12 and 14 Silver Street is designated at grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Date: the main part of the cellar is considered to be early C18 because of the form of the building directly above (identified as the Haggerston's town house rebuilt by 1702), with the entrance and barrel vaulted extension to the east probably dating to 1781 (the date inscribed above the entrance)
* Construction: the cellar preserves good examples of two types of C18 cellar construction: a pair of barrel vaults alongside an extensive area of groin vaults
* Rarity: a relatively rare example of an C18 bonded store

History

The medieval name of Silver Street was Hidegate and on its south side there was an Austin Friary which had already been disbanded by the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the late 1530s. The site was reused for the town house of the Haggerston family which was burnt down in 1687, but rebuilt by 1702. By 1757 this house was described as being almost ruinous (Cowe 1984) and by the late C18 it had become part of a brewery. It has been speculated that the cellar beneath 10, 12 and 14 Silver Street is a surviving part of the medieval friary (Walker, 1991) however this is unlikely because brick was not generally used in Berwick until the early C18. Instead, the main part of the cellar (that with the groined vaulting and lying beneath 10-12 Silver Street) is considered to have been constructed as part of the Haggerston townhouse rebuilt by 1702. The building above is the much altered early C18 townhouse. The main entrance to the cellar carries a 1781 date stone which is thought to relate to the new use of the site as a brewery, the conversion of the cellar into a bonded store and its extension with the addition of the two barrel vaults to the east (lying below 14 Silver Street). The brewery (Border Brewery) was first named on the 1852 Ordnance Survey 1:528 town plan with production continuing into the C20. During the Second World War the cellar was modified for use as an air raid shelter. After the war, the site became a bottling plant and then converted in the late 1950s into a car showroom and garage, with the cellars thought to have been largely disused.

Details

Cellar, former bonded store, circa 1702 extended 1781. Stone piers, brick vaults.

Groined brick vaults supported on a single, centre line of seven stone piers extending beneath the western ten bays of 10 and 12 Silver Street (that part of the building with nearly square windows) and with a return extending southwards for nearly 10m supported by a further two piers. The cellar is extended to the east (extending beneath 14 Silver Street) with a pair of barrel vaulted rooms that are partitioned off from the rest and fitted out with shelves to form bottle bins. The northern room is interpreted as a former secure spirit store, the southern as a wine store. The cellar is entered via a short, arched passage which has an inscribed date stone "G P 1781". Access to the passage was originally via a ramp to the south (as depicted on Ordnance Survey maps), but this was filled-in in the 1950s and replaced by a flight of concrete steps (these steps are not of special interest). The cellar floor is flagged and incorporates drainage gullies. It also retains evidence of a tramway entering the doorway as well as the later insertion of masonry partition walls, interpreted as air raid shelter blast walls, which have since been removed. The vaults have projecting keystones, some of which are pierced with circular holes of unknown purpose (possibly either drainage from above or ventilation). The western end walls have a couple of high level openings with ceramic drain pipes entering from above. These drains have timber bungs attached to chains, again for an unknown purpose. There is also an inserted emergency exit (thought to have been part of the conversion to an air raid shelter). There is also evidence of another, earlier doorway which presumably provided direct access from Silver Street, as well as a removed newel stair to the building above. In addition there are at least two blocked former light wells.

The building above the cellar is not included in the listing.

Sources

Books and journals
Cowe, F, Berwick upon Tweed, (1984), 28
Walker, J, Secret Berwick, (1991)
Pearson, L, British Breweries - An Architectural History, (1999), 29

Other
Hulka, K, Historic Building Report: Former Blackburn and Price Garage, Silver Street, Berwick", 2010,

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