Building record 727/0/10 - No.191 Watling Street (Possibly Formerly Part of The Swan Inn)

{1} Shops and dwelling. C17, refronted in brick early/mid C19. Red brick in Flemish bond, painted, timber-framed to rear, slate and old plain-tile roofs, brick end stacks. Original plan unclear. 2-storey, 3-window range. Projecting C20 shop fronts to ground floor. Canted bay window to first floor left, 12-pane sash windows to right with flat-arched heads. Nogged brick eaves. Interior not inspected.

{3} Number 193b Watling Street together with 195 Watling Street were historically a single property. This two-storey building comprises a jettied timber-framed structure of four bays with stone gables. One corner post survives on the ground floor, as do timbers of the first-floor and the first-floor front elevation, which incorporates four downward braces. A single downward brace is incorporated into the wall immediately below the central truss, all of which appear to be primary features. The tie-beamed central truss had two collars and two rows of threaded purlins. The lower purlins had wind-braces springing from the side of the principal rafters. One extended first-floor joist remains in-situ confirming that the timber frame incorporated both a shallow jetty and a canopy extending over the pavement by at least 0.8m.
Although there is the potential for 193b to be 15th century, a 16th century date seemed more probable. Documentary evidence shows that the freeholders of the property in 1509 were John Bussy of Aylesbury, John Russell of Banbury and William South of Towcester but the identity of any tenants or use of the building during this period cannot be ascertained. The extended joist to support a canopy points to it being a shop rather than solely a residential building.
Ten timbers were sampled from the first-floor and roof of 193b Watling Street. Five samples cross-matched; four of these were from the central truss and the fifth from the east wall plate showing that the truss and the front frame were contemporary but no absolute dating was possible.

{4} No. 193: timber framed, with the front of the building originally 1m further back than at present. At least part of the front of the building was originally jettied. An internal wall formerly travelled the width of the building. Chamfers supporting the first floor joists are likely to date from the 16th or very early 17th century. The upstairs rooms are unusually tall for a timber framed building and roof evidence shows that they formed a single large chamber with no ceiling. Marks on the roof timbers indicate that the roof was constructed in the carpenters yard and then taken down and reassembled on site.
No.191: soot staining on the roof timbers indicate that the building was orignally a narrow very tall open hall with a central hearth, no upper rooms and no chimney. Halls such as this were seldom constructed after the mid 16th century.
It is apparent that 191 and 193 were formerly one property as they share a brick eaves course and common ridge line. The division occurred in the 19th or early 20th century. It is unlikely that the building was a dwellingb because of its location and the size of the rooms. It is more characteristic of an inn, and documentary evidence exists a Swan Inn on this site.

{6} The timber framed building that is encapsulated within 191 and 193 Watling Street is likely to date to the first half of the 16th century. The evidence for this is the soot staining on the roof timbers of 191, the design of the roof trusses and the wide chamfers on the floor beams in the rear additions of 193. It is doubtful whether the building would be a dwelling of the period because of its location within the commercial core of the Tudor town, the height of the first floor rooms and the size of the upper chambers. All of these would be more characteristic of an Inn for which there is good documentary evidence at a slightly earlier period i.e. the period of Henry VII rather than Henry VIII. On balance it is highly likely that both 191 and 193 encapsulate some of the fabric of the Tudor ‘Swan Inn’.
No. 189 Watling St (Willen Hospice Shop) was the southern end of the building but any Tudor fabric would have been destroyed when the property was rebuilt in the mid 19th century. The alley way between 189 and 191 Watling Street may well be the remnants of the former carriage / wagon entrance to the inn which might have led to a courtyard and an exit onto Park Street.

{7} There is some structural evidence to suggest that the outbuilding to the rear of 191 Watling Street has evidence for timber-framing. The variety of walling materials, the use of packing pieces between the brick walls and wall plates all indicate a structure that has been much altered and suggests that the origin of the structure is earlier than the 18th century. Its position indicates that it could be the remains of the west wing of the inn’s courtyard which would have included a gateway leading to Brown’s Yard and Park Street. A sixteenth century date for parts of this structure is possible.

{8} Two undated photos of nos. 191, 193 and 193a;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 13/194 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F08 p.88 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN45262.

<3> Giggins B.; Conlon R., 2011, Towcester and Potterspury Dendrochronology Assessment, p.2 (checked) (Report). SNN107444.

<4> Giggins B., 2011, Historic Building Assessment, 193 Watling Street, Towcester, (checked) (Report). SNN107593.

<5> CLASP, 2005-12, CLASP (Community Landscape and Archaeology Survey Project) Newsletter, Issue 14 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN108402.

<6> Giggins B., 2011, Historic Building Assessment: 191 Watling Street, Towcester, Northamptonshire, checked (Report). SNN110297.

<7> Giggins B., 2016, Outbuilding at 191 Watling Street, Towcester, checked (Report). SNN110298.

<8> Photographs of buildings in Towcester (Photographs). SNN114425.

Record last edited

Jan 18 2023 10:18AM