Building record 727/0/58 - Nos.193B, 195 & 195A Watling Street West

{1} House and shops. Late C16/early C17. Timber-framed with end walls of coursed squared ironstone, old plain-tile roof, brick end stacks. 2 storeys and attic; 2-window range. C20 shop fronts to ground floor, either side of passage to rear. Two canted bay windows to first floor. Close studded first floor, originally jettied. Two roof dormers.

{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.

{5} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 13/195 (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> CLASP, 2005-12, CLASP (Community Landscape and Archaeology Survey Project) Newsletter, Issue 14 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN108402.

<5> Photographs of buildings in Towcester (Photographs). SNN114425.

Record last edited

Jan 18 2023 10:27AM