JE Allnutt and Son Ltd, Midhurst, West Sussex

Summary

House and shop. C15 or early C16 in origin, with rear extensions of late C16 or C17 date, altered C17/C18, remodelled early to mid-C19 and after 1890 when the jeweller's business was established. The house has been recently refurbished.

Description

MATERIALS: brick west gable wall and cladding to rear extensions; rendered, possibly timber-framed, upper floors and eastern gable wall, tile-hanging to link between front and rear ranges. Slate roofs fronting the street, tile to rear.

PLAN: shop with accommodation and workshops above and to the rear, set out on two bays in two storeys with a cellar beneath the western bay. Steeply sloping rear roof with a lower eaves height than to the front. Built into the main range is a pair of asymmetrical gabled rear extensions, each of two and a half storeys and of differing dates and construction.

Ground floor shop which has been extended into the rear wings such that the rear wall has been partly removed. Internal stairs to a small landing where the floor levels are of different heights. Internal stack on the former rear wall of western bay. Gable end stack to the eastern bay. Central stairs lead to the rear extensions.

EXTERIOR: two storey, two-bay street frontage. Restored, late C19 shop front with moulded pilasters and brackets and shop windows with slender glazing bars. Central doorway with replaced glazed doors set back beneath a fascia. Pair of first floor six-over-six pane sashes in near flush frames. Tall brick stack which is external to this building but now rises between this and the adjoining building. Rendered eastern gable wall where it extends beyond the adjoining building. Base of western gable wall in randomly coursed narrow hand made brick, limestone and flint rubble. Above the plinth height the wall is clad or built in red, brown and grey 2" brick. The rear south west angle is chamfered at lower level. The rear wings are clad in stretcher bond red brick and have two- and four-light timber casements, those on the first floor beneath cambered brick arches.

INTERIOR: the shop has been modernised and the former rear wall, which is now internal, has been largely removed. Internal stone steps lead from the rear section of the building into the cellar which is stone lined. First floor front rooms have late C19 fireplaces in moulded surrounds. Rear wings have chamfered wall plates and horizontally aligned spine beams with stop chamfers of late C16 or C17 type. Doors are of two chamfered or moulded panels. The crown post roof above the western bay has a substantial short plain shaft and heavy, steeply curved braces to the collar and collar purlin. The collar purlin has a scarf joint midway suggesting that the roof extended in either or probably both directions beyond the single surviving bay. The roof to the eastern bay was not fully accessible but has been replaced with a shallow, probably C19, hipped roof, over the stubs of earlier rafters.

History

JE Allnutt and Son Ltd lies to the south side of West Street, one of the main historic streets in Midhurst that leads to the square and medieval parish church. Midhurst is of C13 foundation and rich in C15 and later buildings. The building appears to be two bays of a larger building which has been curtailed, and on the evidence of the crown post roof possibly dates from the C15. The western gable wall is in C17/early C18 brick but the base is disturbed and appears to incorporate earlier fabric as well as later repairs. The western rear wing is of late C16 or early C17 date, while the eastern wing appears to be slightly later in date. The building was refronted and the roof altered, probably in the early to mid-C19. A jeweller's business has occupied the premises since c1890, when the shop front was installed and the building was refurbished internally. More recently the shop interior has been opened up to enlarge it and the shop front has been restored.

The gateway and gate to the west of the building that are traditionally associated with the Commandery of the Knights of St John are separately listed Grade II. However more recent research suggests that the Commandery occupied a different site.

To the rear of the building are detached later C19 and C20 workshops. The northern section of the western boundary wall is of limestone rubble with courses of narrow brick and later patching. These are not included in the listing but contribute to the context of the building.

Reasons for Listing

* Architectural interest: single bay of a robust, plain, crown-post roof of a larger medieval building, built above a cellar, altered in the C16 and C17. Moulded timber frame of C17 or early C18 rear extensions, later clad in brick; late C19 remodelling as a shop and workshops with accommodation on the upper floor;
* Plan: post-medieval upper-floor plan, influenced by the medieval core, with C17 and early C18 rear extensions;
* Historic interest:evolution from late medieval period on one of the principal medieval streets in Midhurst; that this has been a shop since at least the C19 adds to the interest of the site.

External Links

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