West Wiltshire District Council’s Warminster Town Centre Conservation Area Character Assessment, Informative Document, Consultation Draft/Cabinet Draft, of December 2006, includes the following notes:
SECONDARY RETAIL AREA
This area is formed from a series of roads including George Street, Silver Street and Emwell Street, the southern end of Ash Walk and the northern end of Sambourne Road.
Archaeological evidence appears to suggest that Saxon habitation may have been situated within the area now formed by Emwell Street – an area slightly raised above the river Were’s floodplain. An early medieval market is also said to have flourished at the meeting of the roads in Silver Street and Church Street, where the obelisk is currently located.
The early origins of this part of the town are therefore an important contributory factor to the way this area has gradually evolved to become the complicated urban fabric that characterises this area today.
USES
This part of the town has always acted as a physical link between the earliest part of the settlement and the later medieval part in the High Street area. Despite this it has grown to have its own special features especially reflected in terms of the quality of the built environment. It is characterised by a mixture of uses including residential, retail, small business, including several inns and semi-industrial uses. The balance between these elements fluctuates but is generally stable apart from the shop units in the George Street terrace that do not all appear to be flourishing, leading to some units being converted back to residential use.
The uses genuinely reflect the fact that this area is not the main commercial centre of the town although there are some well established shops that have been operating for many years.
Many shops are classed as specialist and provide a slightly unusual range of goods from antiques to electrical items. Some of the dwelling houses in the area have been converted to small business such as dentists or architects practices, whilst others seem to be successful in providing family accommodation. The close proximity of a number of schools in Church Street and Vicarage Street makes this area attractive for residential use.
LAYOUT
Silver Street and George Street are orientated in roughly the same alignment east-west and appear to be separated at present by a small mini roundabout that allows for Sambourne Road to merge with them. Highway features mark each end of these roads; Silver Street starts at the junction where the Obelisk stands, whilst George Street ends at the mini-roundabout at the Portway and High Street junction. Both have attractive visual ends and are lined almost continuously with high density historic development fronting directly onto the pavements. There are few gaps between development, although the most notable is that large area presently boarded by McCarthy Stone hoarding that used to be the Octagon Motors Garage, occupying an important corner site on George Street and Ash Walk.
There is a higher predominance of properties with private gardens in Silver Street, especially towards the western end. Craven House in particular boasts gardens to its front and rear.
Emwell Street runs parallel to Silver Street, with the effect of both creating a large roundabout containing property on the south side of Silver Street and the north side of Emwell Street by linking into Sambourne Road and Vicarage Street. This results in some of the property being accessed from both roads, effectively having two public frontages. Emwell Street is distinctly different in character from the other roads being one-way, traffic calmed and narrower than them, it has a more suburban feel to it. The areas of open space created by school playing fields and off-street car parking that break up the southern side of this street also contribute to this character.
ARCHITECTURAL FORM
The strongest group of buildings to in terms of visual impact is the George Street terrace. These 3-storey Victorian terraced houses dominate the north side of George Street emphasised by the sheer wall of brickwork.
Public Houses are numerous in this part of the town, possibly reflecting the historic association this area had with the brewing industry. Many inns still survive as pubs, the most notable being The Weymouth Arms Inn and The Farmers Hotel. Both prominent buildings in both scale and position.
The former is an 18th century re-working of an earlier structure – possibly 16th century in date – and is regarded as one of the first buildings in the town where the wings have been faced in brick, it is also likely to have been a house before it became an inn. The Venetian window and gothic tracery at the rear together with a pedimented doorway on the front give this building an attractive quirky appearance that tends to allow it to dominate the road.
The Farmers Hotel is in contrast a later building , deliberately built as a hotel although attached to earlier buildings at the rear that that may have been workshops. Interestingly this started out life as a grocery, licensed to sell tea, coffee, pepper, tobacco and snuff! before changing to a temperance hotel in 1879 selling cocoa. The most salient feature of this building is its angled front onto the corner of Silver Street and Sambourne Road.
Now redundant but recognisable externally, is the 19th century 2 storey building on the corner of Church Street and Silver Street facing the obelisk. Once known as the “Ship and Punchbowlâ€, this was the site for one of the earliest inns in Warminster pre-dating 1710. The original thatched building burnt down in 1880 and was replaced with the current brick and tiled building with distinctive dog-tooth cornice details at the eaves. The alley by the side of this inn was the entrance to Warminster Brewery, now apparently converted to a row of houses known as Obelisk Terrace.
Houses in this area seem to either be flats above shops especially in the 3 storey properties within the George Street area or 2 storey cottages in terraced groups. The row of cottages numbered 44-49, Silver Street are a particularly attractive group with colourful rendered fronts, adding a visual break from the somewhat monotonous brick and stone of surrounding buildings. Craven House on the opposite side of Silver Street is a high status building from the 18th century, set back from the street behind ornate gates and walls.
SHOP FRONTS
This area has retained a number of period shop fronts which are very important to the character and attractiveness of the town and should be preserved. Those that stand out within the street-scene are:
2, Silver Street (Obelisk Antiques).
5, Silver Street ( Double M Electrics).
16, Silver Street (Manfield House).
34, Silver Street ( Collectables).
1 and 2, George Street.
42, George Street.
There is a wealth of old photographs and records for the town, providing an opportunity to reinstate lost features or even entire shop fronts if they have been replaced with less sensitive modern examples.
SUMMARY OF KEY FEATURES
Street and Building Layout.
High density, narrow building plots fronting onto pavements.
Wide streets with parking in bays along each side.
George Street, in particular, has raised crossings.
Emwell Street in contrast is narrow and has become one–way to alleviate problems with school and residential traffic.
Building Types
Uniform terraces of brick up to 3 storeys in height interspersed with individual buildings of varying heights, styles and architectural qualities arranged in long terraces or groups. There are a number of traditional shop fronts in this area that are important to the character of the conservation area.
Materials
Ashlar stone and render are used most frequently in this area, with some locally manufactured brick and rubble stone can also be found. Many of the rendered buildings are painted in attractive shades that help to distinguish each one.
Casement and sash windows reflecting Georgian, Victorian or earlier origins.
Landscape Features
Hard landscape associated with an urban centre.
Parking
On street, subdivided into parcels of parking areas in George Street.
Rear courtyards and some coach houses converted to garages.
Streetscape
Presence of traditional street nameplates.
Skyline
The lowest part of the town so that buildings in the immediate vicinity tend to block any views out of the town. Buildings are of varying heights whilst others have uniform heights forming visual blocks.