Building record 4140/0/31 - No. 24 High Street (The Yews)

Late 17th century house part remodelled during the late 18th to early 19th century.

{1} House. Late C17, part remodelled late C18/early C19. Squared coursed ironstone and limestone, part banded. Colleyweston slate roofs. 4-unit plan with cross wing. 2 storeys with attic. Main front of 4-window range. Bay second from left breaks forward as gabled cross wing with two 2-light stone mullion windows, one with leaded lights staggered between floor and one 3-light stone mullion window, part with leaded lights, to attic. All have drip moulds. Bay to far left has one 2-light stone mullion window to ground floor and one similar single-light window to first floor. Gabled turret to left of window formerly housed a staircase. Return wall of cross wing has two 2-light stone mullion windows with drip moulds, now blocked. 2-window range to right is of 10-paned sash windows with moulded stone surrounds. Central 4-panel door between windows has similar moulded stone surround with plain entablature and simple cornice above. Ashlar gable parapets and kneelers and truncated ashlar stacks at ridge and end. Rear has a 4-light stone mullion window with diamond shape leaded lights. Interior not inspected but hall noted as having an early C19 staircase with stick balustrade.

{3} This is a fine house dating back to c.1580-1600. It was formerly much larger; the original hall block was probably lost in the later 19th century, the surviving large block forming a cross wing to the original house. The cross wing contained a fine first floor bedchamber, complete with a most unusual and high status feature, a garderobe. The stonework is of high quality with many surviving stone mullion windows. A fine oak stair was introduced c.1700, with high quality panelling, doorways and other interior fitting out. In the early 19th century a second stairway was created, with further good quality interior fittings of this period.
Most of the exterior walls feature banded work with alternating courses of ironstone and limestone. The main length of the north-west front has been much re-faced, disrupting the banding, with four symmetrically placed sash windows and a central doorway. Walls are c.700mm thick. On the rear south-east wall, an area to the east has irregular stonework, a joint line to the left of the doorway, and another straight joint to the upper right - all indicating a former building block which abutted here, now missing. A narrow rectangular projection to the north corner is a garderobe, serving the first floor bedchamber, all the stonework indicating it is integral to the original construction. A small area of disturbed stonework at the base on the north-west side indicates a former opening for clearance. All of the main gables are stone-coped. There are ashlar limestone chimneystacks to the centre and south-west, of plain double stalk construction, with plain stepped mouldings. The roof covering is of Collyweston slate throughout, though the considerable up stand at the gable parapet might possibly indicate former thatch.

The surviving block must clearly be the cross wing of a very large house. The main hall block extended previously to the south-east, as indicated by the 1837 map and the evidence in the wall here. The surviving block seems to be a high quality chamber cross wing, with a fine first floor bedchamber and garderobe. On the ground floor below the bedchamber is the kitchen, with its large fireplace. The blocked doorway in the wall at first floor level would have fed from the hall block to the bedchamber. It is possible that the hall had a cross passage at the far end with a service cross wing beyond it. The ground floor room may have served as the parlour. The surviving block must date from 1580 or later. The garderobe seems an early feature so a date of 1580-1600 seems likely. The projecting gabled north-west block may have formed a closet off the main bedchamber before its later conversion to a stair.

Around 1700, the fine staircase was inserted in the north-west block, the windows changed to suit, and perhaps the fine panelling and first floor doorways added at the same time. The lost hall block still survived at this time, so the current entrance passage must have been created, leading from the hall to the stairs. Around the same time, the roof to the main south-west length of the cross wing block was renewed, and other panelling and doors fitted.

In the early 19th century a new front doorway and entrance hall were created, and the new stairway with its mahogany handrail and stair window. The symmetrical arrangement of the four sash windows and front door may date from this period. Panelling, doorways and fireplaces were also introduced at this end of the house in this period. The hall block survived until at least 1837, though may by this time have become reduced from its earlier extent and have lost any service rooms or cross wing to its south-east. It finally disappeared in the later 19th century, and the property was subdivided by c.1900.

{4} Archaeological observation of groundworks comprising the excavation of the kitchen floor to remove contaminated material and the insertion of a vacuum extraction system through an
adjacent external wall, was undertaken.

No archaeological remains were found predating the probable 16th century house. A possible foundation cut for this building was found under kitchen flagstone floor. These flagstones may have been the original surface -no earlier flooring was found. The flagstones were numbered for re-instatement. The date of the current configuration of the inglenook is more recent possibly contemporary with 18th/19th century work to the house. The most recent modification has included the construction of brick fireplace and the installation of an aga. The rear facing stones had been stripped, and only a few stones on the sides were present. The ground in the fireplace had also been removed and backfilled with rubble containing ash.

{6} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 10+11/68 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> 1992, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), K06 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN46686.

<3> Hill, N., 2001, 24 High Street, Gretton: Historic Building Survey, (checked) (Report). SNN102447.

<4> Wolframm-Murray Y., 2016, Archaeological observation and recording at The Yews, 24 High Street, Gretton, Northamptonshire, September 2016 (Report). SNN110798.

<5> Crank, N. (Editor), 2017, South Midlands Archaeology (47), p. 41 (Journal). SNN111362.

<6> Photographs of buildings in Gretton (Photographs). SNN111741.

<7> Historic England, Undated, THE YEWS, GRETTON, BF083840 (Archive). SNN113021.

Record last edited

Feb 23 2022 2:34PM