HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURAL SURVEY
37-39 LONG ACRE (The Old Post Office)
SUMMARY
Trent & Peak Archaeology was commissioned by Bingham Historic Trails Association in 2012 to survey no. 39 Long Acre, a distinctive brick building near the centre of Bingham. Although not listed, the building gives the outward appearance of dating from somewhere between the later 17th century to the early 18th century. The future of the building is uncertain as it has been disused for several years and has recently been sold. This survey report, allied to a separate dendrochronological report by Nottingham Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory is in part intended to inform the planning decision-making process, should that be necessary.
The building is two storeys tall with a high attic level, since raised on the south side facing Long Acre, creating the appearance of a third storey. The building is brick-built with the two sides facing Long Acre and Market Street partially rendered. These sides have two slightly projecting string courses, the lower one cut back where windows have been replaced and heightened. The main part of the building running along Long Acre is about 6m x 14m in size, five bays long and is slightly irregular in shape. There is a cellar under the first bay and the roof covering is modern pantiles. To the rear there is a lower and smaller 2-bay long extension.
The main part of the building has a floor plan of three rooms or cells, two with back-to-back fireplaces, a form that went on being used up to c.1730. On the exterior there are several Artisan Mannerist architectural details and the use of bricks 2? -2½ inches (60- 63mm) thick probably place the building in a date range of 1675-1725. Results obtained from the dendrochronological sampling include four timbers from one room with a felling date of 1689 and a likely construction of the building then or not long after matches the general structural evidence. The north extension was probably added in c.1749-50. Other timbers in the building have been reused from elsewhere.
The house is believed to have been the home of, and probably built by, yeoman farmer John Needham, whose inventory of 1694 has reference to rooms that include an Old kitchen and an Old parlour. These rooms must refer to an existing building, probably the adjacent no. 37 to which no. 39 has been commercially linked since the 19th century, when the former was The Vaults Inn and the latter its hotel. Evidence suggests that later when the north extension was added that no. 37 was also rebuilt (the brickwork is coursed together) and provided with a new barrel-vaulted cellar. The north extension provided a new kitchen space for both the existing house and no. 37, allowing the latter space for a public area, if its use as an inn dates back to that time.
The interior of no. 39 has a number of fixtures of 18th and 19th century date, suggestive of a gradual improvement to the building over a period of time. Needham’s early death probably postponed the internal treatment of the building once constructed. A fireplace, grate and panelled door probably date from c.1720.
Several phases of enlargement and alteration can be discerned. The building started as a farmhouse, was at some point part used as a shop, a post office and through most of the 19th century was a boarding house and hotel when it was much altered to provide more space, better internal access and an improved frontage. A separate page of plans is available here and can be viewed alongside the main report.
Since the study the property has been substantially redeveloped internally to provide residential and retail space. Most of the features mentioned in the report have been retained, albeit that for fire safety reasons some ceiling beams are now hidden.
Click here for full
report
Click here for plans
of Old Post Office
Click here for phasing
plan
Click here for
occupation history
Click here for dendrochronology
report