Details
ILMINSTER
1939-1/7/100 SILVER STREET
29-JUL-76 (South side)
19-21
NUMBERS 19-21, ATTACHED GATEWAY AND OU
TBUILDINGS TO THE REAR OF NO 19
(Formerly listed as:
SILVER STREET
19 AND 21
NUMBERS 19 AND 21 AND ATTACHED WALL, G
ATE PIERS AND GATES)
(Formerly listed as:
SILVER STREET
19 AND 21)
GV II*
House and shop, formerly a pair of houses. Possible C17 origins, altered and remodelled circa 1790. In the late-C19 the right-hand house was converted to a drapers shop (No 21), with adjoining accommodation (No 19). Shopfront and shop interior of circa 1910 for R P Wheadon the drapers.
MATERIALS: Painted brick, though the ground-floor of east gable wall of No 19 is built of uncoursed limestone rubble with a slate roof and brick stacks. The parapet has a moulded cornice and there is a stepped stone coping with the base of a ball finial to the left gable end. The rear addition to No 21 is of brick.
PLAN: Double-depth plan. There have been additions to the rear of Nos 19-21: a two-storey extension to No 19; and late-C19 and early-/mid-C20 additions to No 21, including a large twin-gabled addition that was added before 1929.
EXTERIOR: Two-storeys, seven-window range. Windows are grouped; three to the right, three to the left of centre and one to the far left, possibly indicating that in the C18 these were two symmetrical three-window range houses with an extra bay to the left. All first-floor windows are six/six-pane sashes with stone lintels and prominent keystones. Under the third window from the right is a circa 1790 six-panel door with a fanlight, set in a doorcase with pilasters and festoons to the cornice. Below the four right-hand windows is a fine circa 1910 shop front which projects forward to the street. It is dominated by the high fascia which bears the words: 'COSTUMES DRAPERS R.A.DYER Ltd OUTFITTERS'. The fascia has a dentilled cornice which is divided into three sections by reeded, panelled consoles; the central part has a swept segmental top and is decorated by swags and an ornamental keystone. Beneath it, the plate-glass shopfront is interrupted by two lobby entrances. Each of these has a mosaic floor bearing the name 'R.P. WHEADON & SON Ltd'. This name is repeated in the etched glass of the entrance doors, which are of timber with bronze kick plates. The soffits of the lobbies are panelled. The windows have low, granite risers incorporating rectangular vents with a lozenge pattern. The panes of glass are separated by colonettes with cast-iron openwork spandrels. The doors backing the window displays are set with mirror glass, above which hammered glass panels borrow light for the interior of the shop. The narrow bay to the extreme right of the shopfront may have originally been a doorway, perhaps to provide access for staff working in the workshops on the first-floor.
To the left of the door to No 19 is a one/one-pane sash window, and to the far left is a low, C20 three-light plate-glass show-case obscuring the lower part of a wide recessed arch. The left (east) return is limestone rubble to the ground-floor with brick above; there is a round-headed casement with small panes in the gable, and a lead hopper-head to the downpipe of the parapet gutter. (There is another to the front-inside-right). The rubble stone and the position of the chimneys may indicate an earlier single-storey building. There have been additions to the rear of No 21 which date mostly from the late C19 and early C20, and were added to allow the business to expand. No 19 has been extended to the rear in the late C19 with a full-height canted bay; there is also two, single-storey extensions to the house which modern and are not of interest.
INTERIOR: R A Dyer (No.21) largely retains its historical shop layout as well as the survival of important shop fittings which are characteristic of late-C19/early-C20 shops. The ground-floor is structurally divided into three-bays. The right-hand bay (men's outfitting) is divided from the others by a solid wall pierced by two doorways, while the central and left-hand bays have been knocked together, with the former party wall replaced by encased cast-iron columns. Fittings include mahogany counters which have solid tops, panelled fronts and either drawers or shelves to the backs; glass-fronted and glass-topped display counters of the 1920s or 1930s; matchboard or tongue and groove panelling to some of the walls; and wall shelves and drawers; early-C20 free-standing cabinets; and an enclosed cash desk with a wooden change drawer and a safe. Towards the rear of the shop is a half-glazed office. There are two staircases: one for the staff and one for customers. The upper floor retains its plan form: rooms include the former millinery department to the rear; former workshops and children's department; fitting rooms and toilets. The rear showroom retains large, mahogany, numbered hat drawers and wall-mounted mirrors. A half-glazed door is etched with the word 'SHOWROOM'.
The original room arrangement to No 19 appears to be largely intact and a number of historic features survive, including its staircase which has turned newel posts and stick balusters, panelled doors, moulded architraves, cornicing, and first floor fireplaces of late-C18 and C19 date; those to the ground-floor have been replaced. At attic level the house has a flying freehold over the adjacent shop premises.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Attached to a wall projecting forward from the left (north-east) corner of No 19 is a Ham Hill stone gate pier, one of a pair to double gates giving rear access to the house; these have plinths, moulded cornices and shallow pyramidal tops. In the rear (south) garden of No 19 is a detached outbuilding, formerly stables, which is now used for storage. It is built of uncoursed stone rubble with a pantile roof. The interior retains its stall partitions.
HISTORY: In 1870 R P Wheadon established a draper's shop in Ilminster. The building (Nos 19-21 Silver Street) in which the shop is located appears to have originally been two separate houses dating largely from the late-C18 date. No 19 remains in use as a dwelling, while the shop occupies No 21. When it was founded, R P Wheadon & Son occupied only 180 square foot but, by the time of the company's Golden Jubilee in the 1920s, the shop had grown considerably expanding into rear additions. In 1937 R A Dyer purchased both the business and the adjoining house (Nos 19-21). In 1961 the neighbouring property, No 23 Silver Street (listed at Grade II, qv) was purchased and was incorporated into the shop premises, becoming the furniture department. Both shops (Nos 21 and 23) were sold in the late C20/early C21, and are now separately occupied, although the shopfront of No 21 continues to bear the name 'R.A. Dyer'.
SOURCES:
Morrison, K.A., English Shops and Shopping - An Architectural History (2003),75-77
Photograph of R P Wheadon (c.1920) http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/
Accessed on 27th April 2010
REASON FOR DESIGNATION: 19-21 Silver Street is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* Rarity: as a rare survival of a late-Victorian/Edwardian commercial premises which has a good early-C20 shop front
* Intactness: a remarkably complete and virtually unaltered interior of circa 1910 which retains an extraordinary array of fittings: counters, display cases, shelving and cash booth
* Architectural: No 19 is a carefully-planned design of pre-1840 date, with those elements which contribute to its special character and appearance being clearly identifiable
* Historic Interest: characterises a developed commercial premises which reflects the growth of department stores in the late C19/early C20
