Building record 727/0/42 - No.174 Watling Street (Prospect House)

House. Early C19, probably with C16/C17 origins. White painted and stuccoed brick with Welsh slate roof and brick end stacks.

{1} House. Early C19, probably with C16/C17 origins. White painted and stuccoed brick with Welsh slate roof and brick end stacks. 2-storey, 3-window range of 1o-pane unhorned sashes with brick cambered heads. Storeyband similar, unhorned sash on ground floor with stucco lintel either side the central doorway, which has stucco architrave and deep flat hood with panelled soffit, on large cut brackets. 4-panel part-glazed door. To rear are 2-storey extension and a I-storey painted rubblestone extension. 2 flat-roofed dormers. Rear wall shows that earlier house has been raised a storey at early C19 rebuilding. Interior not inspected.

{3}House with probable 16th/17th century origins, substantial alterations in the early 19th century. 2-storey, 3 window range. To rear are 2-storey extension and a 1-storey rubblestone extension. Rear wall shows that earlier house has been raised a storey at early 19th century rebuilding.

{5} A former resident of the house, George Thomas Law, operated a sports shoe business. A small part of the business operated out of a small outbuilding to the rear of No. 174 (the major part located in London). Shoes were made for a number of notable sports people.The building has a north light which Law might well have installed. There is good reason to believe Roger Bannister's shoes, worn for the first four-minute mile, were at least partially made in this building, one of the workmen allegedly receiving a thank you letter from him after the event. Law died in 1969.

{6} A level 2 building recording survey of the outbuilding prior to conversion to residential use. There is significant evidence that the rear range has been extensively altered, if not rebuilt, including the addition of a later 20th-century north-lit roof.

{7} The workshop was originally a carpenters shop.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 13/215 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

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

<3> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, p.80 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN40898.

<4> Giggins, B., 2005, Towcester's Industrial Archaeology (Leaflet). SNN107693.

<5> Giggins B., 2019, Prospect House, 174 Watling Street, Towcester (Note). SNN111627.

<6> Richards, G, 2019, An Archaeological Standing Building Survey Prospect House Watling Street Towcester Northamptonshire (Report). SNN111996.

<7> O'Rourke, R, 1971, G T Law & Son, Rugby Boot Makers, Towcester (Article). SNN112649.

<8> Vernacular Architecture Group, 2000, Dendrochronology Database (Digital archive). SNN116200.

Record last edited

Mar 8 2024 1:52PM