Early to mid 17th century timber framed shop and 19th century building remains at 137 Newland Street, Witham (EHER 80140)

An early to mid 17th century timber-framed shop with living quarters at No.139, and late 17th to early 18th century timber-framed extension to the rear. Now a commercial premises, the building was previously occupied by Ardleys bakery who also operated a hire business for horse and cart. Archaeological monitoring during groundworks for a modern extension revealed a 19th century brick floor and associated brick footings. Also recorded was a dome-capped 19th century soak-away.

October 2020. Heritage Assessment. 137 Newland Street is an early to mid 17th century timber-framed shop which fronts Newland Street and formed a range with No. 139, now a fast food retail premises (UK FISH BAR). The continuing range was likely to have been the living quarters of the shop or business owner, but was not surveyed. An extension was added to the rear of No. 137 sometime towards the end of the 17th century or early 18th century. Map evidence suggests a further extension to this building which may have been an outer store or possibly an oven. Other, now destroyed, buildings in the curtilage of 137 may have been for stabling or a cart shed, as the address was occupied by a bakery called Ardleys who also operated a hire business for a horse and cart. A photograph from the turn of the 19th century shows a bakery, with the sign 'Daren', a flour supplier from Kent, painted on the East elevation. The 1914 Royal Commission on Historic Monuments describes 137 Newland Street as: 'shop, with sign painted on end wall saying 'W Ardley, baker, horses and traps for hire, trains met by appointment, motor for hire''. The building is timber-framed with a lathe and plaster render throughout. It has an original 'oriel' or bay window on the ground floor, which extends to a 19th century first floor bay window with gabled blind dormer and mock Tudor timber facia. The gabled roof extends across both 137 and 139 Newland Street and is tiled with early to mid Victorian, plain, peg tiles with an ornamental ridge. A chimney serving the commercial bay has been removed. The timber-framing in the end gable wall is currently exposed and is typical of houses built between the late 16th to mid 17th centuries with corner, arched bracing. The two-story extension is built of a lighter timber-framing to that of the original building, and was also rendered with lathe and plaster (now removed). It has a mansard roof, which is covered in plain, peg tile. This range was un-heated, as no sign of a chimney or fireplace could be seen. There is one modern metal-framed window in Victorian style, in the side elevation and two further on the rear elevation. There is a dormer window to the first floor and this appears to be contemporary with this phase of building, although it retains a modern frame. The timber-framing in the end gable wall is also currently exposed. Entry is through a single front door into a room which is of one cell deep. The room is heated by a red brick fireplace made of early to mid 17th century brick. Within the back of the fireplace is a tiny cupboard which contained a shoe and a shoe sole. The shoe remains are stylistically from the late 17th to early 18th century and as such are good dating evidence for the house. The rear wall of the earlier phase of the building has been removed, creating an open plan arrangement into phase 2. The extension provides access to the first floor, which would have originally been in the earlier building, probably where the modern W.C. is sited. On the first floor, there is an Art Nouveau (c. 1900) cast-iron fireplace around which, the studwork in the wall is exposed. <1> March 2021. Watching brief. Archaeological monitoring during groundworks for an extension revealed a 19th century brick floor sealed by modern concrete. It comprised 19th century red brick, laid flat and interspersed with larger bricks or tiles. Once the brick floor was removed, an associated brick footing was revealed, being contemporary with the floor. In the SE corner of the trench, a second, unassociated brick footing was recorded and is considered to belong to a different phase of building. In the SE corner of the trench, a 19th century capped, brick-built soak-away was recorded. After removal of the brick cap, no further brickwork was seen below the superstructure. The soak-away had a diameter of c. 1m and a height of 0.75m. <2>