98 High Street, Maidstone
By Deborah Goacher & David Brooks
Members of the KAS Historic Buildings Group recently visited an old chemist shop, in Maidstone High Street, being converted into a potential restaurant. An initial site visit, made available courtesy of Dolmen Conservation, proved to generate more questions than answers. It was evident that the front left-hand gabled section had been inserted into a former building layout, but little more information was available at that time.
A return visit, once the roof coverings had been removed, confirmed initial views about the building layout. At the rear of the front left-hand gable, a mediaeval structure was found which is thought to be fourteenth-century construction. This section of the building is assumed to have had an open hearth, having soot coated internal gable walls, rafters and collars. A later collar purlin and end braces to the roof were clean of soot deposits (Fig 1). Some
The general principal frame to the older sections of the building is typical of this era. Several areas of lath and daub plastering survive.
The right-hand front elevation gable bay-window was found to be an alteration to the frontage, which initially appeared to have had pointed trefoil arch-topped glazed windows to the front and left-hand return elevation of the gable (before the addition of the right-hand gable construction) as detailed (Fig 3). The roofline had been extended out to provide weathering to the bay window.
Interesting internal features included two ground-floor boarded-up openings of historic access to the adjacent left- hand building. An extensive cellar includes historic ragstone walls and a well (Figs 4 & 5).
A map based on a 1650 survey of the manor of Maidstone shows one James Ruse responsible for 28d (old pence) per annum rent for two adjacent tenements facing the ‘Market Cross’ in Maidstone
High Street (in a location consistent with that of Nos. 97a and 98).
James Ruse is also indicated as property-holder or occupier of a further tenement situated on the opposite (north) side of the street, also facing the Market Cross, for which a rent of 21d per annum is payable (Maidstone in 1650: From a 1650 written description by Nicholas Wall. Research & mapping by Allen Grove & Robert Spain 1974–75. Supplemented & confirmed by information from later maps, rentals & plans covering part
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Fig 1: Collar purlin and end braces to the roof
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Fig 2 or whole of the area). Maidstone manorial records may provide further evidence of occupiers or owners of the properties.
In 1664, Mr James Ruse (or Rowse) was listed as chargeable for eight hearths within ‘The High Towne’ area of ‘The Towne of Maidstone, in the lath of Aylesford’ (Kent Hearth Tax Assessment Lady Day 1664, Harrington, D., (ed.), 2000, p182). James Ruse appears on a seventeenth-century Maidstone token (including the Grocers’
Arms) understood to have been in The Peter Mann Collection of Kent Tokens (information kindly supplied by Linda Weeks). However, one James Ruse was also mayor of Maidstone in 1647 (History of Maidstone, Russell, J.M., 1881, 1978 reprint, p411).
This was a fascinating building to visit during the extensive structural repairs, being sympathetically carried out by the contractor. KAS members were accompanied on their second visit by Alan Smith, senior reporter, who placed an item in the Kent Messenger and KentOnline.
Building surveying and recording were undertaken in the 1970s by the Vernacular Buildings Section of Maidstone Area Archaeology Group (MAAG). Work included a survey of
97a and 98 High Street by members; an isometric drawing dated 1976 produced by Michael Jessup was kindly supplied by Michael Ocock (as a result of seeing this latest KM article). Based on that survey, it had been concluded that the building could be dated to around the mid- fourteenth century. Online planning applications include recent plans of the building and archaeological observations by Rupert Austin of Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
The Historic Buildings Group has undertaken further visits in
2019: Charing Palace Gatehouse, Stalisfield and Lees Court in April; five Shoreham houses in August and St Andrew’s Chapel, Boxley on several occasions. Research is ongoing concerning the latter building, presently owned by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB).
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Fig 5
