Summary

A C17 or earlier timber-framed building, refronted in the C19, and with a C20 shop front.

Description

A C17 or earlier timber-framed building, refronted in the C19, and with a C20 shop front.

MATERIALS: painted brick and render, with a plain tiled roof and Welsh slate.

PLAN: the building is rectilinear on a long, narrow plot. The roof ridge runs from north-east to south-west and there is a shopfront to the street either end.

EXTERIOR: a terraced building of two storeys and attics. At ground floor is a C20 shop front. There is exposed timber framing to the rear elevation. There is a C20 casement window set in reveals to the first floor, and a dormer window in the attic.

History

Dunstable town was historically focused upon the intersection of two ancient routes, the Neolithic Icknield Way, running from east to west, and the Roman Watling Street, running from north to south. The crossroad remains a dominant feature in topography of the town. Dunstable has Roman origins, known as Durocobrivis, centred on the crossroads, which appears to have been abandoned at the end of the Roman period. The town was later re-established in the early C12 by Henry I, centred on the royal lodge of Kingsbury and the Augustinian Priory founded in 1131, dissolved in 1540. A market was established in the wide streets and marketplace, where permanent buildings began to encroach to form Middle Row, possibly from the early C13 onwards. The town continued to prosper as a market town in the post-Medieval period, and also as a significant staging post for coaches travelling along Watling Street. The C19 saw the arrival of the railway, new municipal buildings, and the development of the backland with new terraced housing and small industrial premises, notably hat-making. The C20 saw the growth of the town as an engineering centre. Residential expansion continued apace, with associated provision for schools, churches, and other public buildings.

28 High Street South was built in the C17 or earlier. It is visible upon late C19 mapping, as part of ‘Middle Row’ with extensions to the rear. The front of the building was remodelled and rendered in the C19 and a shop front added in the C20. It was first listed in 1976 and was previously described as follows: “C19 painted brick. 2 storey front. Earlier main structure with timber frame exposed on back elevation. Old tiled roof.”

Reasons for Listing

28 High Street South, a C17 or earlier timber-framed building, refronted in the C19, and with a C20 shop front is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic and architectural interest:

* for its C17 origins.
* for its substantial surviving timber frame.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26607306

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback