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Summary

Grade II* listed town house, dated 1663, with fine brickwork and massive oak staircase, part of a department store founded in the early 20th century

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

• Listed Building (II*) 1290298: 7-11, Northbrook Street
• Conservation Area: Newbury Town Centre

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• National Monuments Record No.: SU 46 NE 114
  SU 4715 6725
• Old Listed Building Ref (pre 1984) (II*): ø 1/83 No. 8
  Dated 1669. 3 storeys, rubbed brick, with modern shop front. Doric and Ionic pilasters to 1st and 2nd floors. Two tile hung gables with remains of bargeboards. Gabled staircase projection at back is now enclosed in house and window blocked. Modillioned eaves cornice. Four sash windows. (Photograph in N.M.R.). Interior: Good staircase with plaster ceiling with cherub medallion and egg-and-tongue cornice. Top flight balustrade and upper balustrade renewed in pine. The staircase looks older than 1669. (Trans. Newbury Field Club. VII (1934), 86; V.C.H. Berks. IV, 130).

Monument Type(s):

• TOWN HOUSE (17th century - 1669 AD? to 1700 AD)
• SHOP (18th - 19th century - 1701 AD? to 1900 AD)
• DEPARTMENT STORE (Early 20th century to Early 21st century - 1921 AD to 2050 AD)

Full Description

A group of three Listed adjoining but different buildings in Newbury has been considered together in architectural guides as for many years they formed most of the frontage of a department store, named Camp Hopson, whose address was 6-12 Northbrook Street. The numbering of the properties changed in the second half of the 20th century, leading to some confusion as to the individual elements. No 6 Northbrook Street is not a Listed Building.

The building that forms the northern element of Nos 7-11 Northbrook Street in the early 21st century was previously No 8. (It is therefore suggested that its current numbering be considered as 10-11). Prior to the redevelopment of the Camp Hopson site it was the tallest and central part of the shop.

Listing description: Circa 1669, altered: rebuilt at rear. Three storeys and attics. Projecting front with 4 windows. Tiled roofs with 2 tile hung gables to street with bargeboards and pendants inscribed '1669' [NB Bargeboard date is in fact 1663]. Front of red brick rubbers with Doric and Ionic brick pilasters as pedestals between window bays of 1st and 2nd floors. Wooden modillion eaves cornice. Two-light attic casements with glazing bars. Gauged flat red brick arches to slightly recessed sash windows with exposed boxing and glazing bars. Modern shopfront. A gabled staircase projection at the rear now enclosed in the shop and the window blocked. Interior with C17 staircase with moulded handrail and turned balusters; the top flight balustrade and upper balusters renewed in pine. Painted ceiling of staircase with moulded ribs, cherubs medallion and egg and tongue cornice. <1><2><3><4>.

A Campbell-Cooper described the contemporary staircase with its plaster ceiling <4>; it is suggested that it might be earlier than 1669 <5>. He also thought that the house showed one of the earliest examples in the country of rubbed brickwork with pilasters of Doric and Ionic orders, using a style that had probably originated in Holland <4>.

The house was built for George Cowslade, haberdasher and mayor in 1663, who bought the site in 1658 <7><10>. The rear of the building was redeveloped in the early 21st century.

The department store, Camp Hopson, was founded in 1921 following the amalgamation of two different long established family businesses in Newbury, Alfred Camp's Drapery Bazaar and Joseph Hopson's Furniture Store. The newly formed business encompassed four different businesses, Alfred Camp's Drapery Bazaar at Nos. 6-9 Northbrook Street, George Wintles Drapery Business at Nos. 10-11 Northbrook Street, William Penfords Drapery & Funeral Business at Nos. 13-14 Northbrook Street and Joseph Hopson's Furniture Store at Nos. 28 & 64-65 Northbrook Street. The conversion work included a unification and refit of the stores and the insertion of new shop fronts <9>.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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