Building record 727/0/72 - No.21 Park Street (Old Mint House)

House. Early C17 with C19 and C20 alterations. Coursed limestone rubble, old plain-tile roofs, brick ridge and end stacks.

{1} House. Early C17 with C19 and C20 alterations. Coursed limestone rubble, old plain-tile roofs, brick ridge and end stacks. L-plan. 2 storeys and attic; one-window range. Ridged and studded plank door to right of centre in moulded wood surround and pilastered and pedimented doorcase. C20 window to left, small 3-light leaded window to far left. C20 window to first floor. Wing to rear left. Interior has ogee-stop-chamfered spine beams, open fireplaces with chamfered bressumers and bolection-moulded wood fireplace surround in upper room.

{3} Nine timbers in the rear range roof and three in the front range roof were sampled in this property. Four timbers from the rear range and a single timber from the front range dated, giving a likely combined felling date range of AD 1575–1601, and suggesting that the roofs of the two ranges are coeval. The timbers may have been sourced from two different areas, but appear to form a coherent group in terms of felling date. The date range suggests that the roof of the rear range was constructed in the latter decades of the sixteenth century and that at least one timber from the central truss of the front range is of the same, or similar, date. As the rear addition abuts upon and uses the stone gable of an earlier building in the rear yard it would suggest that this building replaced an earlier building on the site predating AD 1570.

{4} Building survey was undertaken as part of the wider Historic Towcester Survey. Analysis of the building has shown that it was constructed in the late 16th century as the service wing of a large town house. The two ground floor rooms of the rear addition may have been separate service or storerooms which may not have had upper floors. The flooring over of these rooms happened in the 17th and 18th century. One of the rooms appears to have functioned as a rear kitchen or malthouse.

{6} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 13/146 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F08 p.68 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN45262.

<3> Bridge, M and Tyers, C, 2020, Old Mint House, 21 Park Street, Towcester, Northamptonshire: Tree-ring Analysis of Oak Timbers (Report). SNN112448.

<4> Giggins, B, 2021, Historic building research, survey and analysis: Mint House, 21 Park Street, Towcester (Report). SNN112631.

<5> Crank, N. (Editor), 2021, South Midlands Archaeology (51), p. 68-9 (Journal). SNN113326.

<6> Photographs of buildings in Towcester (Photographs). SNN114425.

Record last edited

Sep 22 2023 9:37AM