Building record 1160/379/2 - No.18 Market Square

No 18 Market Square may have been designed by Henry Bell following a fire in 1675 that destroyed much of the town centre. The house is of three bays and three storeys with attics. The front elevation is stucco-covered with three unhorned sixteen-paned sash windows to the first and second floors. The first and second floors are reached by an open well staircase with turned balusters. Each floor contains two main spaces, one to the front and one to the back. Some original features remain including plaster cornice and original fireplace surrounds in the first floor rooms and visible tie beams on the second floor. The house is listed Grade II.

{1} C17th and later. Stucco front with bracketed cornice. 3 storeys and attics, dormer window. 3 windows, swag window aprons to 2nd floor, central window flanked by Ionic pilasters. Door and fanlight on left in wooden surround under hood. Nos 16 to 19 (consec.) form a group.

{4} No.18 is at the centre of a row of buildings to the south of Northampton's Market Square, one of the largest in England, and home to a market since the earlier 13th century. In 1675 about three quarters of the town centre was destroyed by fire, and the surviving historic houses around the square date from rebuilding after this, or later. These include No.18, one of the earliest of those listed buildings that face onto the square, of which there are nine on the south and west sides, dating to between the late 17th and early 19th century.

The house may have been designed by Henry Bell (1647-1711), a Norfolk merchant and architect, best known for his most important building, the Custom House in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, designated at Grade I. However, Bell is also notable for the role he played in the rebuilding of Northampton following the fire of 1675, where he was jointly responsible for the rebuilding of All Saints Church, designated at Grade II*, and may also have been involved in the design of the Sessions House, designated at Grade I, and the rebuilding of houses on the Market Place.

18 Market Square is a town house of three bays and three storeys with attics. Its stucco-covered front elevation contains three unhorned sixteen-paned sash windows to first and second floors, separated by Ionic pilasters with swags below the capitals. There are also swags below the second-floor windows, and above bands with centrally placed consoles. There are brackets below the eaves, and a dormer window to the centre of the roof. On the ground-floor pilasters flank the modern shop window and glazed door with overlight.

To the right of the entrance lobby a door gives access to a single open space. There are fragments of a dentilled cornice between what would have been the front and back rooms. The first and second floors are reached by an open well staircase with turned balusters. Each floor contains two main spaces, one to the front and one to the back. Both rooms to the first floor contain a dentilled plaster cornice and original fireplace surrounds. On the second floor tie beams are visible in the front room, but the fireplace has been covered over below the mantelpiece. The back room has been subdivided, and retains no original features. The attic is ceiled above the purlins, and the walls are plastered leaving the principal rafters exposed.
It is recommended that 18 Market Square, a late 17th century town house possibly designed by Henry Bell (1677-1711), is downgraded from Grade II* to Grade II on the statutory list for the following principal reasons:
* Architecture: It merits designation at Grade II for the special architectural interest of its well composed design that includes elegant and well crafted detail; however, the quality and quantity of this work is not of more than special interest.
* Intactness: While significant internal detail does survive, there have also been losses to both interior and exterior.
* Group value: It has group value and shares many features in common with other Grade II designated buildings of similar date around the square, with which it bears comparison.
* Architect: On stylistic grounds, the house may have been designed by Henry Bell, who played an important role in the rebuilding of Northampton after the fire of 1675.

{5} Photo dated 1990;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 1/172 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> 1976, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), H14 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN1000.

<3> Department of the Environment (DoE), 1976, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, p.103 (checked) (Catalogue). SNN3381.

<4> ENGISH HERITAGE, English Heritage Listing File, Heritage Protection Adviser, 11th March 2010 (Report). SNN111579.

<5> Photographs of buildings in Northampton (Photographs). SNN114989.

Record last edited

May 10 2023 12:40PM