38 and 38a High Street, Stock (EHER 81011)

Mid nineteenth century house attached to a former butcher's shop. Number 38a was probably the residence for the shop and once had an internal connecting door. It is constructed of red brick and is partly rendered. It has two storeys beneath gable roofs with plain tile covering and overhanging eaves. There are two skewed ridge stacks with three brick pots each. The building has been completely remodelled internally. Number 38 the former Wrights butcher shop is currently a clothes boutique and has a twentieth century shop front. It is constructed of red brick. On the east elevation there is a decorative bracket on which the shop sign hung. There are no fixtures and fittings remaining apart from two iron rails carrying meat hooks and marble shop counters at each window. Both buildings have been remodelled in the twentieth century and have twentieth century fenestration. At the rear of the house is a yard with a red brick outbuilding which is thought to have been a slaughterhouse, enclosed by a wall. Both the wall and outbuilding are of red brick laid in Flemish bond and have dog-tooth dentillation. The slaughterhouse has been extended and a conservatory has been attached to the south gable. The pantile -covered roof is later twentieth century. There are no internal fixtures or fittings of interest other than a saddle-rack.

Information from NRHE data import: CONTEXT. An application to list 38 and 38a High Street, Stock had been received in 2007 by English Heritage. The building was considered for listing but has not been listed. The building is subdivided; there is a current planning application for alterations to number 38a, which has recently been sold. No. 38 is the former Wright's butchers shop and is under separate ownership, but not thought to be under any threat. The building lies within a Conservation Area and there are a number of listed buildings in the immediate vicinity. HISTORY. Stock is a small parish located to the south of Chelmsford. Although not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was probably a small hamlet within the larger parish of Buttsbury, its place-name is probably of Saxon origin. A traditional small agricultural village, from at least the late medieval period, Stock was also a centre for pottery production and from the C18 until c 1900, the traditional 'Stock brick' was produced at the village brickworks. No. 38a was probably the residence for the shop and once had an internal connecting door at ground floor. Photographs of the early and mid twentieth century suggest that the building has been little altered. However, careful inspection reveals that the ground floor façade windows are twentieth century replica sash windows and the first floor fenestration comprises mid twentieth century metal framed casements. The left-hand projecting gable may also be an addition. There has been considerable remodelling to the rear and the interior form has been substantially altered. Number 38 was the former village butchers shop, but is currently a clothes boutique. It has been substantially remodelled in the later twentieth century to accommodate sales floors on two storeys. DESCRIPTION. NUMBER 38a. The building is a house attached to a former butchers shop to the north-east and probably of mid nineteenth century date with twentieth century remodelling. Constructed of red brick, laid in Flemish bond, the building is partly rendered and has two storeys beneath gable roofs with plain tile covering and overhanging eaves. There are two skewed ridge stacks with three brick pots each. The façade has a twentieth century door beneath a nineteenth century flat-hood with flanking three-window sashes of 12 panes each beneath straight segmental brick heads. At the left is a twentieth century garage door blocking the entrance to the yard with a taking-in door above. There are two projecting gable-ends with applied timber work; the left-hand above the taking-in door and the right-hand above a slightly projecting bay window with twentieth century metal casements. To the rear, a later nineteenth century outshot with a dormer and pantile roof has been added and there are two first floor extensions to the south and north which appear twentieth century in date. The south elevation shows that the left-hand gable abuts an earlier roof. INTERIOR The building has been considerably remodelled internally, particularly at the rear where additional rooms and a twentieth century replica Victorian staircase have been inserted. The roof structure is late twentieth century. On the first floor the room to the rear of the left-hand gable has twentieth century applied timber framing and one room has a nineteenth century fireplace. There are no other fixtures and fittings of historic interest other than some four panelled doors of probable late nineteenth century date. NUMBER 38 The former Wrights butchers shop has a twentieth century shop front wrapping around the north and east elevations beneath a tiled pentice roof supported on carved brackets. It is contiguous with No. 38a and is also of red brick laid in Flemish bond. The north elevation has decorative timbers in the gable end and twentieth century casement windows at first floor. On the ground floor, there is a twentieth century door and opening to the right of the shop front. On the east elevation, there is a decorative bracket on which the shop sign hung. An early twentieth century part glazed door is located at the angle of the north and east elevations. INTERIOR. There are no fixtures and fittings of the shop remaining apart from two iron rails carrying meat hooks and marble shop counters at each window. The ground and first floor have been remodelled to accommodate open-pan retail space and a late twentieth century stair. OUTBUILDING AND BOUNDARY WALL At the rear of the house is a yard with a red brick outbuilding, said to have been the slaughterhouse, enclosed by a wall. The rear wall of the slaughterhouse and the boundary wall are of red brick laid in Flemish bond and have dog-tooth dentillation. The slaughterhouse has been extended at the south-east corner and a UPVC conservatory has been attached to the south gable end. It has a timber-battened door with casement window to the right and a taking-in door at the north gable-end. The pantile-covered roof has been replaced in the later twentieth century and there are no internal fixtures and fittings of interest other than one saddle-rack. ASSESSMENT. When considering designation of buildings dating to after 1840, greater selection is necessary because of the increased numbers of buildings erected and surviving. Number 38 High Street served as a butchers shop until the 1960s and the attached residence at No. 38a was inter-connected with the shop. Similar to most large villages in England, Stock had a local meat supply and the survival of the shop, dwelling, yard and outbuildings is certainly of local interest and an interesting townscape feature worthy of inclusion in the Conservation Area. It is suggested that the building dates to the early nineteenth century, however the use of a neo-vernacular style suggests a later nineteenth century date and the buildings and boundary wall certainly post-date 1840. Although the building contributes to the street-scene, it is a plain composition of little architectural quality embellished only by the applied timber on the gable ends and over-hanging eaves. The architectural quality has been further reduced by the twentieth century fenestration and inserted garage door at the yard entrance of no. 38a High Street, extensions to the rear and replacement roof. The interior of no.38a has been remodelled, thus obscuring the original plan-form and contains few historic fixtures and fittings, with those that remain being of little interest. Approximately 326 butchers shops are listed at grade II, typically with prominent tiled and glazed frontages and largely intact interiors. Sadly, although the rails and marble counters remain in No. 38 High Street, there are no other fixtures and fittings pertaining to the butchers. Additionally, there has been significant remodelling to both ground and first floor and thus the shop at No. 38 High Street does not meet the requisite standard for designation. It is reasonable to assume that the outbuildings to the rear had historical functionality with the butchers shop and the largest of these may have served as a slaughterhouse. This building does not contain any evidence of slaughterhouse activities and has been altered in the twentieth century by the replacement of the roof and addition of a UPVC conservatory. The boundary wall appears little altered, but as a building post-dating 1840, it is not considered to be of special architectural quality in the national context. CONCLUSION. Numbers 38 and 38a High Street have local architectural and historic interest and are rightly located in the Conservation Area. However, the shop, attached residence and slaughterhouse have insufficient architectural quality and are too altered from the national perspective to fulfil the criteria for listing buildings of this age and type. The boundary wall contributes to the ensemble, but is not of sufficient architectural interest in itself to merit listing. <1>