173, High Street, Berkhamsted , is a medieval building in Hertfordshire, England. It is considered to be the oldest extant jettied timber framed building in Great Britain, dated by dendrochronology of structural timbers to between 1277 and 1297. [1] At the time of the building's construction, the town of Berkhamsted was a relatively large, flourishing wool trading market town that benefited from having an important royal castle. [2] [3]
The building was given a Victorian facade and was used as a pharmacy in the nineteenth century. Its historical significance was not recognised until 2001 when it was Grade II* listed after the medieval timber framing was exposed during renovation work. It is currently used as an estate agent's.
The building received two grants from English Heritage, one for investigations and one for conservation work. [4] Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said "This is an amazing discovery. It gives an extraordinary insight into how Berkhamsted High Street would have looked in medieval times." [5]
Initially, the investigations suggested that it had always been a shop, as there was evidence for the existence of a jeweller or goldsmith's shop with a workshop behind. This generated headlines to the effect that the country's "oldest shop" had been discovered. [5] [6] The age of the building would make it a contender for the title, [7] but there is doubt about how long it served as a shop. It is now believed to have originally been a jettied service wing to a larger aisled hall house, which has since disappeared. [8]
Berkhamsted is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, 26 miles (42 km) north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town of Hemel Hempstead. Berkhamsted, along with the adjoining village of Northchurch, is encircled by countryside, much of it in the Chiltern Hills which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Dacorum is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. The council is based in Hemel Hempstead. The borough also includes the towns of Berkhamsted and Tring and surrounding villages. The borough had a population of 155,081 in 2021. Dacorum was created in 1974 and is named after the ancient hundred of Dacorum which had covered a similar area. The borough of Dacorum is the westernmost of Hertfordshire's ten districts. It borders St Albans, Three Rivers, Buckinghamshire and Central Bedfordshire.
The River Bulbourne is a small river in Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. The word bourne derives from the Anglo-Saxon word for a stream. It is an unnavigable tributary of the River Gade, which flows into the River Colne, which in turn is a tributary of the River Thames. The Bulbourne is an example of a chalk stream, which is a watercourse that flows from chalk-fed groundwater. Chalk streams are a very rare habitat globally, with more than 85% of all the 210 chalk streams in the world are found in England. The river is reduced in size, due to human activity, the main one being the building of the London to Birmingham Grand Union Canal through the narrow valley which takes most of the river's water.
High Bridge also known as the Glory Hole carries the High Street across the River Witham in Lincoln in eastern England. It is the oldest bridge in the United Kingdom which still has buildings on it.
The Wealden hall house is a type of vernacular medieval timber-framed hall house traditional in the south east of England. Typically built for a yeoman, it is most common in Kent and the east of Sussex but has also been built elsewhere. Kent has one of the highest concentrations of such surviving medieval timber-framed buildings in Europe.
The Ancient Priors is a medieval timber-framed hall house on the High Street in Crawley, a town and borough in West Sussex, England. It was built in approximately 1450, partly replacing an older structure—although part of this survives behind the present street frontage. It has been expanded, altered and renovated many times since, and fell into such disrepair by the 1930s that demolition was considered. It has since been refurbished and is now a restaurant, although it has been put to various uses during its existence. Secret rooms, whose purpose has never been confirmed for certain, were discovered in the 19th century. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance, and it has been described as Crawley's "most prestigious medieval building" and "the finest timber-framed house between London and Brighton".
3–31 Northgate Street is a terrace of shops, offices and a public house on the west side of Northgate Street, Chester, Cheshire, England. All the buildings have a set-back ground floor with a covered walkway, are timber-framed in their upper storeys, and are listed buildings, being graded II* or II. The part of the terrace comprising numbers 5–31 is known as Shoemakers' Row, or Sadler's Row.
The Brewery Shades is a public house on the High Street in Crawley, a town and borough in West Sussex, England. The building, which stands on a corner site at the point where the town's ancient High Street meets the commercial developments of the postwar New Town, has been altered and extended several times; but at its centre is a 15th-century timber-framed open hall-house of a type common in the Crawley area in the Middle Ages. Few now survive, and the Brewery Shades has been protected as a Grade II listed building.
46 High Street is a timber-framed, black-and-white Elizabethan merchant's house in Nantwich, Cheshire, England, located near the town square at the corner of High Street and Castle Street. The present building dates from shortly after the fire of 1583, and is believed to have been built for Thomas Churche, a linen merchant from one of the prominent families of the town. It remained in the Churche family until the late 19th century.
Regent House and Warwick House together form a large timber-framed building, probably dating from the late 16th century, in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. Regent House occupies numbers 12 and 14, and Warwick House numbers 16 and 18a, on the west side of the High Street ; Regent House occupies a bend in the street which reflects the town's Norman castle. The building was probably constructed shortly after the fire of 1583. Regent House and Warwick House are listed separately at grade II.
Berkhamsted Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The castle was built to obtain control of a key route between London and the Midlands during the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century. Robert of Mortain, William the Conqueror's half brother, was probably responsible for managing its construction, after which he became the castle's owner. The castle was surrounded by protective earthworks and a deer park for hunting. The castle became a new administrative centre of the former Anglo-Saxon settlement of Berkhamsted. Subsequent kings granted the castle to their chancellors. The castle was substantially expanded in the mid-12th century, probably by Thomas Becket.
The Parish Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted, is a Church of England, Grade II* listed church in the town of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It stands on the main High Street of the town and is recognisable by its 85-foot (26 m) clock tower.
The Stag Inn is a public house in the Old Town area of Hastings, a port and seaside resort in East Sussex, England. One of many ancient buildings on All Saints Street, the 16th-century timber-framed inn was refronted in the 18th century, but many of its original features remain. The preserved bodies of two smoke-blackened mummified cats have been displayed on a wall since their discovery in the 19th century; witchcraft has been suggested as an explanation for this "grisly sight". The inn, which claims to be Hastings' oldest surviving pub, is operated as a tied house by the Shepherd Neame Brewery, and has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance.
Dean Incent's House is a 15th-century timber-framed house in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. It is reputed to be the birthplace of John Incent, a dean in the Church of England who held office at St Paul's Cathedral from 1540 to 1545.
St Mary's Watford is a Church of England church in Watford, Hertfordshire, in England. It is an active church situated in the town centre on Watford High Street, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) outside London. St Mary's is the parish church of Watford and is part of the Anglican Diocese of St Albans. Thought to be at least 800 years old, the church contains burials of a number of local nobility and some noteworthy monumental sculpture of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.
The Mitre Inn is a public house at 58 High Street, Chipping Barnet, London. It was established by 1633 and is probably the oldest remaining of the town's once numerous coaching inns. It is a grade II listed building with Historic England and is currently styled "Ye Olde Mitre Inne".
The White Lion is a public house in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. In 2015 the pub was owned by Punch Taverns.
Berkhamsted Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II listed building.
The Moot Hall is a former municipal building in the Market Place in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. The building, which now operates as two shops with office space above, is a Grade II listed building.
