SNN110297 - Historic Building Assessment: 191 Watling Street, Towcester, Northamptonshire

This historic building assessment was carried out following a brief inspection of the property on the 28th November 2011 by Brian Giggins as part of a long term research project into the historic buildings of Towcester. Access to the first floor was not obtained. The timber framed building that is encapsulated within 191 and 193 Watling Street is likely to date to the first half of the 16th century. The evidence for this is the soot staining on the roof timbers of 191, the design of the roof trusses and the wide chamfers on the floor beams in the rear additions of 193. It is doubtful whether the building would be a dwelling of the period because of its location within the commercial core of the Tudor town, the height of the first floor rooms and the size of the upper chambers. All of these would be more characteristic of an Inn for which there is good documentary evidence at a slightly earlier period i.e. The period of Henry VII rather than Henry VIII.