Shopfront at 32 Sheep Street

Summary

A shopfront, built around 1908, originally for J. Birdsall & Sons, jewellers. It has an entrance floor of mosaic and marble, glazed-tile stall riser, delicate timber framing to its glazing, and some Art Nouveau detailing.

Only the shopfront (including mosaic and marble flooring in the entrance), its display window and internal glazed screen are included in the listing. The rest of the building is excluded from the listing.

Reasons for Designation

The shopfront at number 32 Sheep Street, Skipton, built around 1908 for a jeweller, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it is a good-quality, and increasingly rare, example of an Edwardian shop window with entrance flooring in marble and mosaic, glazed-tile stall riser, delicate timber framing to its glazing, and Art Nouveau detailing, including to the window display area and its internal screen;
* it survives unusually well, with little alteration and a considerable proportion of historic fabric.

History

The dwelling and shop at 32 Sheep Street has been occupied by various businesses since the C18. However, its shopfront and entrance mosaic floor probably date from very soon after the freehold was sold to John William Birdsall, a watchmaker, jeweller and optician, in 1908. The firm J Birdsall and Sons remained here until the 1950s. In 1959, the jewellery business became WJ Allen (Skipton) Ltd. The business closed in 1966 and the property was sold to Dacre, Son and Hartley, estate agents, who still (2024) occupy it.

After about 1850 ground-floor shops, boasting attention-seeking displays sometimes lit by gas-light, were a standard feature of most high streets. In the late C19, many types of shopfronts developed their now familiar appearance, jewellers often having screens and elaborate shelving. Lettering, announcing the proprietor or the wares for sale, could be exuberant, and decoration grew in opulence. Ceramic enrichment was one of the particular contributions to retail design in the late C19.

Details

A former jeweller’s shopfront of around 1908. The rest of the building is excluded from the listing.

MATERIALS: timber-framed glazing with glazed-tile stall riser and marble and mosaic entrance flooring.

EXTERIOR: facing east the shopfront is symmetrical with a projecting box fascia supported by fluted pilasters with consoles, and a recessed glazed frontage with flanking quadrants and recessed central door. The stall riser is of rich brown glazed tiles with a moulded plinth, and a short, moulded timber riser above. The windows have a transom just above half-height, with very shallow arches to the lower lights and carving in the spandrels and on the imposts of the slender colonettes. The corners of the door recess are curved. The door is glazed with some carving and a brass Art Nouveau handle, and an open segmental pediment below the transom light. Beyond a marble outer threshold is a mosaic floor in white and grey, with lettering graduated from brown to red stating the address (in the doorway) and the name J BIRDSALL & SONS, flanked by a flower design. The soffit of the fascia is ribbed and painted white (probably originally mirrored glass).

INTERIOR: the internal face of the shopfront is stepped with square angles, and the windows backed by original glazed timber screens with a moulded cornice over and moulded plinth below. The original brass catches and Art Nouveau door handle survive. The outer faces of the quadrants are of mirrored glass, and within the display window, moulded timber ribs link the quadrants’ glazing bars to the outer wall and the inner screen.

Sources

Websites
Notebook 2 of the Rowley Collection, accessed 6 December 2023 from https://rowleycollection.co.uk/notebooks/book.asp?BookID=2

End of official list entry