21 St Martins, Leicester, City of Leicester

Summary

Former house, built in the early C18 and extended in the C19, now offices.

Description

Former house, built in the early C18 and extended in the C19, now offices.

MATERIALS: The roof has a slate covering, and walls are constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with stone dressings and wood eaves cornice.

PLAN: The former house is roughly rectangular on plan, with a perpendicular single-bay projection to the east side of the rear (north) elevation, and a large C19 rectangular-plan extension to the rear.

EXTERIOR: This former house, constructed in the early C18, is three-storeys in height with five symmetrical bays facing south to St Martins. The steeply-pitched M-profile hipped roof has a slate roof covering, with three substantial red brick chimneystacks, and a single red-brick chimneystack to the rear projection. The walls are constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond, with a heavy moulded wood eaves cornice, painted moulded brick bands at second and first floor levels, and a moulded plinth. The front (south) elevation to St Martins has five bays of tall segmental-arched windows containing exposed moulded cases and four-over-four pane timber sash windows; the second floor has two-over-four pane sash windows. The central doorcase has a classical surround, comprising fluted pilasters, Doric frieze, segmental modillion pediment, elliptical-headed margined fanlight, and flush panelled door. The side (west) elevation has four window bays, two of which are blocked on the second and ground floors, and one on the first floor. The three-storey projection to the rear has a variety of windows, including six-over-six pane and eight-over-eight pane timber sash windows. The rectangular-plan C19 extension to the rear has a pitched slate roof gabled to the east and west, with a central rectangular-plan lantern; the west gable has a tall red-brick chimneystack, a segmental-arched window opening containing square-headed casements, and a square-headed door opening containing recessed C20 glazed doors.

INTERIOR: The former house retains a number of significant interior features, including its C18 stair and a high proportion of its classical cornicing, wall panelling, fireplaces, window surrounds, moulded door surrounds and panelled doors. The entrance hall retains fluted Ionic pilasters either side of the doorway, a modillion cornice, and moulded door surrounds containing panelled doors, and leads to a stair hall which retains a modillion cornice, panelled walls, and C18 open-string staircase. The stair retains its original fluted-column newel posts, turned balusters, scrolled brackets, and moulded handrail which terminates with a volute at ground floor and rises with a gooseneck at each half landing and landing. To the right of the stair, a round-headed arch is flanked by fluted pilasters. The north-west room of the ground floor retains its wall panelling, classical cornice, window shutters, and a classical fire surround on the south wall with fluted pilasters, a modillion frieze, and plain marble and cast-iron fireplace. East of the ground-floor rooms, a former exterior passage between 19a and 21 St Martins has been infilled with two WCs in the C20. The half-landing of the stair between ground and first floor is illuminated by a round-arched stair window with a coloured-glass margin, and the half-landing between the first and second floor has a moulded elliptical-headed arch; from each half-landing a short flight of steps provides access to a toilet to the north-west, and a room in the north-east projection, each of which retains a plain panelled door and cast-iron fireplace. The wall panelling continues throughout the stair halls of the first and second floor, with moulded classical door surrounds and panelled doors throughout. The first-floor landing has three classical door surrounds to the east, south and west, with a canted wall to the south door, leading to an antechamber and suite of rooms. The antechamber has two classical door surrounds with a broken triangular pediment to the rooms to the east and west, and one round-arched door surround with fluted pilasters to a room to the east. The south-west room of the first floor retains a plain classical marble fireplace, and the north-west room retains wall panelling. The second floor has a modillion cornice, and three classical door surrounds, two to the east and one to the west, each with a classical cornice. The south-west room retains a cast-iron fireplace with a plain moulded surround and integrated cupboards either side of the fireplace. The basement is accessed from the north side of the ground floor, to the rear of the main stair, and is brick-vaulted and brick-lined. The C19 extension to the rear has two queen-post trusses, a cast-iron column, painted-brick walls, and two large fireplaces on the west wall, one larger than the other, in a white glazed-brick surround.

History

Leicester is one of the oldest settlements in England and its origins can be traced back at least to the Iron Age. There is significant remaining evidence of the Roman settlement particularly on the east bank of the River Soar where the bath house and palaestra at Jewry wall represent the only standing remains of Ratae Corieltauvorum and one of the largest standing pieces of Roman civilian building in the country. However, there is little known of the settlement between the Roman departure and the medieval period.

In the Middle Ages, Leicester became an increasingly important urban centre. William the Conqueror ordered the construction of the first motte and bailey castle in the late C11. This was later rebuilt in stone and the great hall survives containing one of the finest medieval interiors in the country. The city became closely associated with Simon De Montfort who became the Lord of the Town in 1281, and one of the city’s two universities is named after him. The town also became closely linked to the royal family through the earldoms of Leicester and Lancaster, which were joined under one person, Robert Beaumont, in the late C14. This led to further expansion and prosperity in the late-middle and early-modern periods.

The town also became a focus for religious devotion, with an area next to the Castle known as the Newarke, being the location for a collegiate church as well as other religious centres. After his death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the body of King Richard III was brought to the town and buried in the church of the Greyfriars, a Franciscan abbey which tradition has it had been founded by De Montfort in the late C13. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey died at Leicester Abbey in 1530 on his way to face trial in London and was buried there. Other major individuals to be associated with the city include Robert Dudley, who was made Earl of Leicester by Elizabeth I.

The church of Greyfriars was destroyed in 1538, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The site was sold and a manor house built with an associated estate. Both the monastic buildings and the location of Richard’s tomb were lost by the late C17. The manor belonged to Alderman Robert Herrick and remained in the family until the early C18 when it was sold to Thomas Pares. The former Greyfriars precinct was then divided with a new thoroughfare, called New Street laid north-south across it. The street plan more generally continues to resemble that of the medieval borough, although street names have changed, with the boundaries of the precinct on the whole respected.

Throughout the early C18 the two parts of the estate were gradually parcelled and sold for development. It was in the Georgian period that the wider Greyfriars estate was developed, primarily as residences for the professional and polite classes. Many of the remaining buildings date to that period and are domestic in both scale and character. Industry did encroach at the fringes and commercial activities and industry such as hosiery appear on the 1888 map of the area. Latterly the area became the legal centre for Leicester and many of the buildings were converted into offices. The manor house was demolished in 1872 although its garden remained unencumbered of development, as did that of 17 Friar Lane. Both became car parks in the C20.

Leicester itself became an industrial centre following the construction of the Grand Union Canal, which linked the town to London and Birmingham at the end of the C18. By 1800 the population had reached over 17,000 and continued to grow throughout the C19. The first railway arrived in the 1830s and Leicester was linked to the mainline network by the 1840s, which allowed for significant industrial expansion. The major industries were textiles, hosiery and footwear. The size of Leicester increased dramatically at this time and many surviving medieval and early-modern buildings in the Greyfriars area were either replaced or refaced in brick. The C19 also saw the construction of several large schools in the area.

Although the city faced significant economic and social challenges in the C20 it remains a vibrant urban centre and is now known as one of the most culturally diverse cities in Britain. The Greyfriars area has been the focus of international attention and economic investment since the remarkable discovery of the remains of Richard III under a council car park in 2012 and his re-burial in the Cathedral in 2015. Resultant extensive research and archaeological investigation led to the Scheduling of the former monastic site in December 2017 (see List entry 1442955) and the renaming of the Guildhall/Cathedral Conservation Area to Greyfriars.

21 St Martins was constructed as a private residence in the early C18, most likely in the 1720s or 1730s, and possibly functioned as the vicarage of the Church of St Martin (now Leicester Cathedral). The earliest reliable records we have of the property are from 1842 which list 21 St Martins as the offices of the architectural firm of William Parsons. By 1849 Parsons had formed the partnership of Parsons and Dain, which later became Dain and Smith in 1855 and retained offices at 21 St Martins until 1870. By 1875 the building was being utilised as offices of the Borough Accountant and Borough Surveyor. Street directories between 1882 and 1888 list the building as the ‘Chronical and Mercury offices’, and the Historic Town Plan published in 1887 identifies the building as a ‘Printing Office’. The street directory of the following year (1888) lists the occupants as John Bell and Co Brewers. By 1906 the building had become occupied by the North Midland School of Cookery, and from around 1908 to 1922 was occupied by the Municipal Training College for Domestic Subjects. The building was acquired for Alderman Newton’s girls’ school in 1922 and is shown as a ‘Domestic Economy School’ on the 1944 and 1961 Goad maps, with a glazed rectangular-plan roof light over the ‘Canteen’ to the rear. The school closed in 1999, and the building has since been utilised as commercial offices.

Reasons for Listing

21 St Martins, a former house built in the early C18 and extended in the C19, now offices, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* it is an excellent example of an early-C18 town house with a pleasingly proportioned composition and attractive classical detailing that relieves its relatively austere architectural character, typical of such houses during this period;
* it retains a high proportion of its C18 plan form and classical interior features, including its elegant stair, wall panelling and cornicing, fireplaces, window surrounds, moulded door surrounds and panelled doors.

Historic interest:
* it is located within a significant historic townscape, developed within the precinct of the C13 Franciscan friary known as Greyfriars, and makes a notable contribution to its rich architectural character and historic evolution.

Group value:
* it is surrounded by many designated assets with which it has strong group value, especially the scheduled Greyfriars to the south, Leicester Cathedral to the north-west (listed at Grade II*), 2 St Martins to the south-east (Grade II*), 4 St Martins to the south (Grade II), and 6 and 8 St Martins and 17 New Street to the south-west (Grade II).

External Links

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