Building record NYW 080 - 5 Birch Street

Timber-framed and jettied structure of circa 1530-40 that was built in conjunction with no. 3 to its right and belonged to a Tudor house that also included no. 1 beyond. The original dwelling reflected the usual domestic layout of its period with a central hall flanked by a parlour on the left and a service cross-wing at no. 1 that survives from the 15th century house on the site. The hall contains a fine roll-moulded ceiling and evidence of a large oriel window, and the property represents the only three-cell merchant’s house in a street dominated by smaller two-cell renters. As such it makes an important contribution to the understanding of one of the most complete late-medieval market towns in Britain. The hall was initially heated by a chimney against its back wall, but this was replaced in the 17th century by a high-end chimney containing back-to-back fireplaces. The house was divided into three cottages in the late-17th or 18th century, with no. 5 containing the parlour and the corner of the hall to the front of the chimney. Nos. 3 and 5 were shown as derelict in a photograph of circa 1905 but were restored soon afterwards in the Mock Gothic style, stripping the 17th century plaster from their timbers. They were accordingly listed at grade II* on the basis of a cursory external inspection for their ‘composite group interest’ along with the exposed frames on the opposite side of the street. Listed Building Consent was granted in 1991 for a lean-to rear extension containing the modern kitchen along with unspecified internal changes. Further alterations including the removal of a first-floor ceiling occurred in 2014 but these did not affect the original fabric (S1).