Description

741/0/10011

HIGH STREET
11

06-NOV-07

GV
II
Former inn, late-C17 or early-C18 street frontage and C16 or earlier range to the rear. Later work including C19 features and late-C20 shop front.

EXTERIOR: This brick building, which has been stuccoed, has a narrow frontage to the High Street with a late-C20 shop front on the ground floor (this feature is not of special interest), a pair of C18 sash windows on the first floor, and a heavy modillion cornice and parapet. The steeply-pitched roof is orientated east-west with a stack at its western end which abuts the much taller No. 9 High Street next door; the stack appears to date from the 1851 rebuilding of No. 9. Running south from this single room structure is a second range, timber framed with a separate roof, which is slightly narrower than the frontage creating a small courtyard at the rear. The western elevation of No. 11 abuts the neighbouring building but the eastern elevation of the rear range is visible from the courtyard. It has a jettied first-floor containing two casement windows and, on the ground floor, an unusual nine-light window. This is hand-carved with roll-moulded timber mullions and has pointed-arched timber marginal glazing; comparable windows exist in other Kent buildings dating to the late-C15 including Rectory Park, Horsmonden (c1500, Grade II*) and the Thatched House, Smarden (c1480, Grade II*) and this example may be of similar antiquity and would benefit from further research. The southern gable end of this range is dominated by a broad external chimney, again suggesting this part of the building dates to the late medieval period.

INTERIOR: Retains a significant proportion of late-medieval and later fabric. The earlier, rear range has a number of original timbers in situ including beams and at least one post with a lambs-tongue stop and chamfer, although the roof has been replaced. There may be a late medieval hearth behind the south wall at ground-floor level (there is a Victorian fire surround on the first-floor). A wall cupboard reveals the brickwork in this range, which appears to be of considerable age. In the section of the building facing the street, the most significant feature is the impressive late-C17 or early-C18 roof; this is a single bay, without purlins and with a collar beam. Elsewhere in this range is a C19 staircase with a plain handrail, stick balusters and moulded newel posts with ball finial providing access to the first-floor and a single Victorian fireplace in the first-floor front room. The basement contains a number of timber posts, truncated at ground level, which were probably part of an earlier timber-framed building on the site.

HISTORY: The precise origins of No. 11 High Street are unclear, but the fabric suggests that the part of the building facing the street is late-C17 or early-C18, and the rear range is earlier, possibly C15 or C16. The building was once a distinct but co-owned part of the King's Head County Hotel, which is recorded in documents of the 1690s, and also occupied the plot of land to the west of No. 11 now known as No. 9 High Street. An C18 drawing of Dartford High Street shows the public house: to the east is the two-bay building which survives today, No. 11 High Street, albeit with two dormer windows which have since been removed; to the west, at No. 9 High Street, is a four-bay, two-storey building with a parapet and modillion cornice; a glazed shop front runs across the range. A drawing of the mid-C19 shows No. 11 with a Victorian shop front and raised parapet. Although both No. 9 and No. 11 were still known as the King's Head at this time, the former had been replaced with a new structure in 1851 which survives relatively unaltered today. The King's Head closed in the late-1960s or early-1970s and the two premises were converted to shops in separate ownership.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: No. 11 Dartford High Street is listed Grade II for reasons which include:

* exterior of special interest for its scale, proportions, pitched roof and sash windows which identify this part of the building as late-C17 or early-C18 in date;
* the narrow width of the building hints at the site's earlier origins and the mullioned window in the rear range, which would benefit from further research, is of special interest for its potential age and quality;
* above the ground-floor, there is a significant proportion of pre-1700 fabric including a number of original posts and beams of the timber frame, and the potential survival of a large hearth behind the modern walls of the ground floor;
* elements of historic fabric from the late-C17 or early-C18 including a complete roof structure and a number of doors and architraves.

Reasons for Listing

11 High Street is listed at Grade II for reasons which include:

* exterior of special interest for its scale, proportions, pitched roof and sash windows which identify this part of the building as late-C17 or early-C18 in date
* the narrow width of the building hints at the site's earlier origins and the unusual mullioned window in the rear range, which would benefit from further research, is of special interest for its potential age and quality
* there is a significant proportion of pre-1700 fabric including a number of original posts and beams of the timber frame, and the potential survival of a large hearth behind the modern walls of the ground-floor
* there are further elements of historic fabric from the late-C17 or early-C18 including a complete roof structure and a number of doors and architraves

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671531

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

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)