NHER 55897 (Building record) - 7 and 9 King Street, King's Lynn

Nos 7 and 9 King Street. Previously recorded under NHER 12908.

December 1951. Listed Grade II*

November 1977. Field Observation.
Nos 1-9 (odd) King Street visited by E. Rose (NAU).
Restored Georgian houses with timbering seen in walls of passage. Listing (S1) claims that No. 9 has a 14th-century stone arch in larder.
E. Rose (NAU), 2 November 1977. Information from record card (S2).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 11 April 2023.

Photo of ?14th-century window and arch jamb in No. 9 published in (S3).
E. Rose (NAU). Information from record card (S2).

1983. Research.
Unpublished research (S4) suggests that the open hall was built in the first half of the 14th century, probably before 1320. She suggests that the front range on King Street with entrance arch was built in the 15th century and that this range would have included a shop. Floors were inserted in the 16th and 17th century. (S4) argues for a separate kitchen, for which she suggests evidence in the form of a huge chimney found during renovation of a warehouse, with an oven and fireplace facing east into what appears to be a lean-to building.
Before the renaming of the road and renumbering of the houses, this property was one unit known as 4 Chequer Street.
See (S4) for further information.
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 28 November 2018.

April 1984. Building Survey.
Examined by E. Rose (NAU).
No. 9 is a 15th- (or possibly 14th-) century hall house with street range, extended and altered around 1700 and street range altered around 1800.
The remains of a crownpost roof are noted in (S5).
See file notes (S6) for full report.
Compiled by E. Rose (NAU), 26 April 1984. Information from record card (S2).
Amended by A. Cattermole (HES), 5 August 2011 and P. Watkins (HES), 11 April 2023.

October 1986. Field Observation.
Visit by E. Rose (NAU).
Exterior of building has been sandblasted and repointed.
See file notes (S6) for further details of observations.
See also press cuttings (S7) and (S8) for publication of discoveries made during renovations.
E. Rose (NAU), 23 October 1986.

E.M. James notes that an inventory in NRO indicates that the west façade rooms must date from after 1701 (date of inventory), presumably after purchase by Jacob van Vlierden.
Compiled by E. Rose (NAU), 12 April 1990. Information from file notes (S6).

Revised listing (S1) 1993 favours the 14th-century date with an inserted 17th-century floor, but notes that probably a timber frame was removed in the 15th and 16th centuries and that the building should not be considered an early example of brick construction.
A Health centre directly to the west listed as 16th-century, rebuilt 19th century using sections of ships' masts, is separately
listed [NHER 55898]. This seems to be the outbuilding that continues the building line.
Compiled by E. Rose (NLA). Information from file notes (S6).

Excerpt of current Listing Description:
"House. Late 14th-century hall house, altered 15th century and considerably since. 'L'-plan, with hall range in the rear wing to north of courtyard. Brick with stone dressings. Plain tiled and slate roofs. Two-storey, seven-bay east façade to street of c1830. Yellow brick. Sash windows with glazing bars and gauged skewback arches. In third bay (from left) is a timber-framed passage to rear, the front with a timber lintel under a brick relieving arch, the rear with an arched, chamfered, 15th-century opening. Present entrance to No. 9 in bay to north of passageway: panelled door in panelled reveals under a six-vaned fanlight and a round arch. Gabled roof with internal gable-end stacks. Panelled door into No. 7 opens from south-west end of passageway. Rear of front range is whitewashed over passage and to south. Window over passage and narrow windows over 19th-century outshut light No.7. Hall range remodelled 17th century and 18th century into a two-storey, five-bay elevation. Central panelled door of late 17th century. Fenestration of late 18th-century sashes with glazing bars set within late 17th-century or early 18th-century flush frames. Stone jambs of original entrance remain in junction of front and rear ranges, formerly opening directly into west end of hall. Stone jambs of 15th-century dais window remain either side of two ground-floor west sashes. Gabled roof-line changes above these and is marked by a gabled dormer and a late 16th-century ridge stack on a stepped plinth. Attached to east end is a two-storey, early 18th-century brick and slate addition with its four-bay facade to the west. Late 18th-century sashes with glazing bars set within early 18th-century flush frames. Platband between storeys. Doorway to right under 20th-century sloping hood. Hipped roof."
See National Heritage List for England (S1) for the full Listing Description, including a detailed description of the interior.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 11 April 2023.