44 High Street

Homes on the High Street often have the most complex histories. Here we have a pair of early homes, that then became shops, that then became a home, and have now been remodelled in a contemporary style.

From the front No. 44 doesn’t look all that special. But as we are on the road that runs from the medieval market hall, down to the river and castle, the chances are something has been standing here since medieval times.

And the vernacular feel to the roof tells us that this is one of the homes that escaped the Georgian rebuilds that were undertaken in the nineteenth century.

As the interior is now open-plan it is difficult to understand the original layout. The windows are shop windows.

Having two fireplaces tells us we have at least two rooms. The fireplaces are beautiful – in fact they are too good for a building on this scale, the kind of fireplace that only the wealthy would have been able to afford and indeed it has been suggested that they came from the castle.

This shows why Listing is so important. Listings don’t always describe the inside of a property – but they do protect whatever is inside. Sometimes even humble buildings like this have fantastic architectural detail inside.

So never listen to anyone who says only the façade of their house is Listed – if the building is protected then the whole building is, as well as sheds and walls in the gardens.

Through the modern kitchen we have a brick workshop which we know was a nail factory – and it is also Listed. It has hardly changed since the day they stopped making them. A shame really as handmade nails are so much more beautiful than mass-produced examples.