37 High Street

Designation information

Historical development

The town of Leominster traces its origins to the establishment of a religious house there during the C7 or earlier. The Saxon settlement endured repeated Viking raids and is recorded as a sizeable town in the Domesday Book (1086), with 27 households. In the early-C12, King Henry I established a Benedictine Priory in the town and granted a foundation charter for the town’s market. The town thrived throughout the later medieval period, despite periodic unrest due to its location in the border region. Leominster wool was prized across Europe and bestowed considerable wealth upon the town. The town centre retains many medieval and early-modern buildings; secular buildings are timber framed while surviving Priory buildings are constructed of local sandstone. The town centre retains an essentially medieval street pattern, with long, narrow burgage plots fronting the north-south spine road of Broad Street-High Street-South Street, and Corn Square (the historic market place) lying to the east of the High Street. The remains of the Priory, dissolved in 1539, lie to the north-east of the town centre. The town remained a prominent local centre into the C18 and C19. During this period, many timber-framed buildings were replaced (or refronted) by brick buildings with Classical elevations. Many houses in the town centre were partially converted to commercial use and equipped with shopfronts during the later-C19 and C20. 37 High Street was constructed during the late-C16 or early-C17. Various enrichments to the timber frame and its close-studded construction suggest it was built as a fairly high-status residence. The rear elevation, facing Butchers Row, has C17 timber framing with C20 brick infill and an original window opening in the gable now containing a fixed timber window of the C20. The building was altered during the late-C19 or early-C20 with the insertion of a timber shopfront with Classical detailing, the replacement of the first and second-floor windows with sash windows and the infilling of the timber framing with brick. The building is currently (2022) in use as a shop with dwellings above.

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37 High Street

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Grade II · Late C16 or early C17; C19 and C20 alterations · Timber-framed house constructed during the late-C16 or early-C17 and altered during the C19 and C20 with the insertion of a timber shopfront and infilling of the timber framing with brick. MATERIALS: the building is of timber-framed construction with C20 brick infill. There is a C19 timber shopfront and a plain tiled roof. PLAN: the building occupies a rectangular plan with its narrower elevations fronting the High Street to the west and Butchers Row to the east. EXTERIOR: the building is three storeys in height plus basement across a single bay onto the High Street and Butchers Row, under a gable roof to the east and west. The C19 shopfront to the principal, west elevation comprises a plate-glass window with central moulded timber mullion and iron fittings to take shutters, with a panelled stallriser beneath and a half-canted, recessed entrance to the left (north) containing a half-glazed and panelled door. The window and entrance are framed by a pair of moulded pilasters with console brackets rising to a moulded cornice over a plain fascia. The first and second floors have close studding and are jettied, with moulded bressumers to the second floor and gable, and scroll brackets to the second-floor bressumer. There is an early-C20 sash window on the first floor with two-over-two glazing and horns set within a moulded timber surround. There is a smaller sash window to the attic room of a similar design to the first-floor window, partially set within an original opening. There are plain, C20 bargeboards and a spearhead finial to the gable roof. The ground floor of the rear (east) elevation onto Butchers Row is of late-C20 brickwork and contains a doorway blocked with sheet metal. There is a single, two-pane sash window set within a moulded frame on the first floor, and a pair of C20 timber casements set within original openings on the second floor, with a mullion between the two. The gable is jettied with a moulded bressumer and carries a C20 timber casement. INTERIOR: the interior is understood to contain exposed ceiling beams, chamfered frame-posts and studs to the rear ground-floor wall. History The town of Leominster traces its origins to the establishment of a religious house there during the C7 or earlier. The Saxon settlement endured repeated Viking raids and is recorded as a sizeable town in the Domesday Book (1086), with 27 households. In the early-C12, King Henry I established a Benedictine Priory in the town and granted a foundation charter for the town’s market. The town thrived throughout the later medieval period, despite periodic unrest due to its location in the border region. Leominster wool was prized across Europe and bestowed considerable wealth upon the town. The town centre retains many medieval and early-modern buildings; secular buildings are timber framed while surviving Priory buildings are constructed of local sandstone. The town centre retains an essentially medieval street pattern, with long, narrow burgage plots fronting the north-south spine road of Broad Street-High Street-South Street, and Corn Square (the historic market place) lying to the east of the High Street. The remains of the Priory, dissolved in 1539, lie to the north-east of the town centre. The town remained a prominent local centre into the C18 and C19. During this period, many timber-framed buildings were replaced (or refronted) by brick buildings with Classical elevations. Many houses in the town centre were partially converted to commercial use and equipped with shopfronts during the later-C19 and C20. 37 High Street was constructed during the late-C16 or early-C17. Various enrichments to the timber frame and its close-studded construction suggest it was built as a fairly high-status residence. The rear elevation, facing Butchers Row, has C17 timber framing with C20 brick infill and an original window opening in the gable now containing a fixed timber window of the C20. The building was altered during the late-C19 or early-C20 with the insertion of a timber shopfront with Classical detailing, the replacement of the first and second-floor windows with sash windows and the infilling of the timber framing with brick. The building is currently (2022) in use as a shop with dwellings above.

Timber-framed house constructed during the late-C16 or early-C17 and altered during the C19 and C20 with the insertion of a timber shopfront and infilling of the timber framing with brick.

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Current survey photographs

Documentary evidence

Historic England

Royal Commission inventory, 1934

This earlier inventory records the building as it was understood at the time of survey. Its terminology and interpretation should be read alongside the current NHLE entry and present-day observation.

Official list description

Timber-framed house constructed during the late-C16 or early-C17 and altered during the C19 and C20 with the insertion of a timber shopfront and infilling of the timber framing with brick. MATERIALS: the building is of timber-framed construction with C20 brick infill. There is a C19 timber shopfront and a plain tiled roof. PLAN: the building occupies a rectangular plan with its narrower elevations fronting the High Street to the west and Butchers Row to the east. EXTERIOR: the building is three storeys in height plus basement across a single bay onto the High Street and Butchers Row, under a gable roof to the east and west. The C19 shopfront to the principal, west elevation comprises a plate-glass window with central moulded timber mullion and iron fittings to take shutters, with a panelled stallriser beneath and a half-canted, recessed entrance to the left (north) containing a half-glazed and panelled door. The window and entrance are framed by a pair of moulded pilasters with console brackets rising to a moulded cornice over a plain fascia. The first and second floors have close studding and are jettied, with moulded bressumers to the second floor and gable, and scroll brackets to the second-floor bressumer. There is an early-C20 sash window on the first floor with two-over-two glazing and horns set within a moulded timber surround. There is a smaller sash window to the attic room of a similar design to the first-floor window, partially set within an original opening. There are plain, C20 bargeboards and a spearhead finial to the gable roof. The ground floor of the rear (east) elevation onto Butchers Row is of late-C20 brickwork and contains a doorway blocked with sheet metal. There is a single, two-pane sash window set within a moulded frame on the first floor, and a pair of C20 timber casements set within original openings on the second floor, with a mullion between the two. The gable is jettied with a moulded bressumer and carries a C20 timber casement. INTERIOR: the interior is understood to contain exposed ceiling beams, chamfered frame-posts and studs to the rear ground-floor wall. History The town of Leominster traces its origins to the establishment of a religious house there during the C7 or earlier. The Saxon settlement endured repeated Viking raids and is recorded as a sizeable town in the Domesday Book (1086), with 27 households. In the early-C12, King Henry I established a Benedictine Priory in the town and granted a foundation charter for the town’s market. The town thrived throughout the later medieval period, despite periodic unrest due to its location in the border region. Leominster wool was prized across Europe and bestowed considerable wealth upon the town. The town centre retains many medieval and early-modern buildings; secular buildings are timber framed while surviving Priory buildings are constructed of local sandstone. The town centre retains an essentially medieval street pattern, with long, narrow burgage plots fronting the north-south spine road of Broad Street-High Street-South Street, and Corn Square (the historic market place) lying to the east of the High Street. The remains of the Priory, dissolved in 1539, lie to the north-east of the town centre. The town remained a prominent local centre into the C18 and C19. During this period, many timber-framed buildings were replaced (or refronted) by brick buildings with Classical elevations. Many houses in the town centre were partially converted to commercial use and equipped with shopfronts during the later-C19 and C20. 37 High Street was constructed during the late-C16 or early-C17. Various enrichments to the timber frame and its close-studded construction suggest it was built as a fairly high-status residence. The rear elevation, facing Butchers Row, has C17 timber framing with C20 brick infill and an original window opening in the gable now containing a fixed timber window of the C20. The building was altered during the late-C19 or early-C20 with the insertion of a timber shopfront with Classical detailing, the replacement of the first and second-floor windows with sash windows and the infilling of the timber framing with brick. The building is currently (2022) in use as a shop with dwellings above.

Sources and further reading

1. Historic England, National Heritage List for England entry 1255472
2. Leominster Heritage current photographic survey, LH-IMG-000038, LH-IMG-000062