Description

WIGTON

763/0/10012 WEST STREET
14-APR-09 11-13

II
Two town houses built about 1830 by John Barnes.

MATERIALS: Brick and sandstone partly rendered beneath a pitched Cumbrian slate roof.

PLAN: Rectangular with rear outshots.

EXTERIOR: No. 11 is brick-fronted whilst No. 13 is rendered. Both properties have four panelled front doors beneath rectangular fanlights. The door cases have plain entablatures and there are simple moulded window surrounds with sash windows largely throughout. Quoins rise to the full height at the corner of No. 13 but are present only at the upper storey of No. 11. The front elevation is finished with a simple moulded eaves carried on a dentilled cornice. There is a brick gable stack to No. 13 and a rendered axial ridge stack to No. 11. The rear elevation is constructed of local red sandstone with plain window surrounds of the same material. The single-storey kitchen outshot to No. 11 has been re-roofed and a modern conservatory lean-to added. Altered single-storey outbuildings are located in the rear yard. The kitchen outshot to No. 13 has been extended and partly-rendered and an extension has been added to it to join it to the single-storey range of former outbuildings. All outbuildings and modern rear extensions are of lesser importance.

INTERIOR: The layout of both properties is virtually identical with the front entrance leading into a vestibule then hallway off which is a front room, staircase, rear room and rear kitchen in the outshot. Stone staircases lead to the first floor where there are bedrooms to front and rear. The upper floor also has bedrooms to the front and rear. Both properties have a partly-glazed domed skylight above the stairwell with modern lights in the roof above the attic.
No. 11 has a partly-glazed vestibule door with a central frosted glass panel surrounded by stained glass. The hallway has a dado and modern floorboard laid over the original floor tiles. The front ground floor room has an original door with handle, timber window shutters, decorative Victorian cornicing and a late-Victorian fireplace inserted about 2001. In the hallway there is a moulded arch that springs from console brackets. The rear dining room has timber window shutters with metal locking bar, simple cornicing, an early fire surround and an original door with later part-glazed inserts. The kitchen has a vaulted roof and timber boarding to three walls. There is a Regency staircase with thin balusters and a dark wooden handrail ending in a spiral. There are stone steps to the first floor and timber steps to the upper floor. Above the stairwell there is a partly-glazed domed skylight The first floor has front and rear bedrooms, the latter having been converted into a bathroom that still retains its original floorboards, wall cupboards, fireplace and fire surround and panelled window surround. Apart from the front bedroom the upper floor and attic have been modernised.
No. 13 has an encaustic-tiled floor, lincrusta on the wall to dado height, a stained glass fanlight, and a vestibule door with an elaborately patterned central frosted glass panel surrounded by stained glass. The hallway has a dado and exposed original hexagonal floor tiles. The front ground floor room has an original door with modern stained glass panels inserted in its upper half, window shutters, an early fireplace and surround and decorative Victorian cornicing. In the hallway there is a moulded arch that springs from console brackets. The rear dining room has an original door, floorboards and moulded cornicing. The kitchen has been extended and modernised and a modern extension leads to modern utility rooms in the former rear outbuildings. The staircase is the same as that in No. 11 whilst the skylight dome above the stairwell is partly-glazed with stained glass. The first floor has original doors and cornicing to both rooms and an early fireplace and surround in the front room. The upper floor bedrooms have original doors.

HISTORY: Nos. 11-13 West Street, Wigton, were built about 1830 by John Barnes as domestic residences. Both properties are thought to have been modernised at the same time during the late Victorian period. Since construction No. 11 has had a number of uses including being the home of the provincial artist William Henry Hudless, offices of the local Burial Board, a dental practice, and again as a domestic residence from about 1950 onward. It has undergone minimal structural change but has been modernised internally to some degree. No. 13 has had a modern rear kitchen extension added and has been connected by an extension to its former separate outhouses which have also been modernised. Both properties were re-roofed using the original slates during the 1980's. Larger roof lights replaced earlier ones and some new roof lights were added.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
Numbers 11-13 West Street are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* The buildings still retain their original early C19 internal layout
* They both possess significant original and early features such as doors and door cases, windows and windows shutters, tiled floors and floorboards, decorative cornices and arches to the hallway, staircases and partly-glazed domes above the stairwells, and some fireplaces
* They contribute to the interesting and varied architectural assortment of currently listed buildings that line this part of West Street a short distance to the west of the listed memorial fountain in the centre of the Market Place.

Reasons for Listing

Numbers 11-13 West Street are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* The buildings still retain their original early C19 internal layout
* They both possess significant original and early features such as doors and door cases, windows and window shutters, tiled floors and floorboards, decorative cornices and arches to the hallway, staircases and partly-glazed domed skylights above the stairwells, and some fireplaces
* They will contribute to the interesting and varied architectural assortment of currently listed buildings that line this part of West Street a short distance to the west of the listed memorial fountain in the centre of the Market Place.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672414

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

• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)