Nineteenth to 20th century outbuildings and 19th century building remains at 111-115 Newland Street, Witham (EHER 80067)

Demolished in 2023. Two adjacent outbuildings at the rear of 111 Newland Street. Outbuilding 1 has little architectural merit as it is mid-20th century and basic in construction. While Outbuilding 2 also has modern components, it seems to have incorporated at least two outer walls of the historic outbuilding. A later phase of evaluation at the site revealed an undated ditch and six structural features - four wall foundations and two floors. The structural foundations have been attributed to a building that is recorded on the 1839 Tithe Map, and may be an earlier phase of Outbuilding 2.

May 2023. Heritage assessment. Two adjacent outbuildings at the rear of 111 Newland Street, a Victorian terrace, which have incorporated many elements from previous outbuildings known from historic mapping. Outbuilding 1 has little architectural merit as it is mid-20th century and basic in construction. Cartographic evidence dates it construction to between 1946 and 1955. While Outbuilding 2 also has modern components, it seems to have incorporated at least two outer walls of the historic outbuilding into its NE and NW walls. They have been labelled as Outbuilding 1 to the North and Outbuilding 2 to the South, and both outbuildings are aligned NW-SE. Outbuilding 1 is 23.22m by 4.83m and is constructed from red brick. The roof is gabled at both ends and clad in slate. There is a set of timber double doors with a concrete lintel on the SW elevation and a boarded-up timber-framed window on the NE elevation. There are four blocked openings on the SW elevation, evidenced by the presence of concrete lintels. Internally, there are two rooms. Both are carpeted and have plasterboard walls. The second room has an opening into Outbuilding 2. Outbuilding 2 is 12.90m by 6.02m, constructed from red brick and is rendered in concrete on all elevations. The roof is mono-pitched, sloping to the SW, and clad in corrugated asbestos. There are two Crittall eight-light awning-windows and two blocked openings on the SW elevation. They all have concrete lintels. Internally, there are two rooms in a combination of brick and breeze block, painted white in places. The floor of outbuilding 2 comprises timber floorboards and carpet. At some point Outbuilding 2 was open-fronted and may have been used as a cart lodge, likely related to deliveries for the Co-operative Wholesale Society (henceforth CWS). The English CWS was established in mid 19th century and today is known as the Co-operative Group. The Co-operative Group own the outbuildings. On the frontage of the building terrace, 113 and 115 Newland Street have a joint façade with a carved stone CWS logo on the pediment. 111 Newland Street, on the other hand, has a separate frontage with a carved bird logo on the pediment, an indication that 111 Newland Street was acquired by the CWS at a later date. Both façades look as though they may be later brick frontages bolted to the front of the buildings, likely to embellish the shops fronts. <1> May 2023. Trial trenching. The evaluation revealed an undated ditch and six structural features - four wall foundations and two floors. The structural foundations have been attributed to a building that is recorded on the 1839 Tithe Map. Although most of the bricks recovered from the foundations are attributed to the 19th century, one of the walls contained bricks with an earlier 17th-18th century date. Potentially, the building may have an older origin than the 19th century or may contain earlier bricks. The Tithe Map records the site as plot 233a and was owned by William Henry Patterson and occupied by Henry Lawshall White. <2>