The historic building recording was undertaken on 20th January 2025. The drawn record comprised annotations made to existing measured plan and elevation drawings, including evidence of phasing, blocked doorways/windows, timber framing and other structural elements. Dimensions were confirmed on site using a Leica laser distometer and taped measurements where necessary. The photographic survey was made using a high resolution digital SLR camera (Nikon D7000). All photographs contained an appropriate scale, with exceptions including general views or views of inaccessible areas such as ceilings and voids, including those areas subject to fire damage. Descriptions of the building were recorded on pro forma building recording sheets. A room schedule recorded the internal dimensions of each space, records of ceiling, wall and floor materials, coverings, decorative features and evidence for original or altered fabric. Additional research has been carried out, including data held by the Worcestershire HER, Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service, historic maps, trade directories, census records, newspaper articles, photographs and online and published sources, to place the building in its historical context. Despite the extent of fire damage to the building, it was possible to make a number of key observations about the construction methods, phasing and potential dates of the building. Critically, despite alterations in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, Building 1 retains a near-complete cross frame of a late 16th or early 17th century timber framed building. This comprised a close-panelled box frame structure with closely spaced upright studs extending to storey-height, separated by horizontal rails. In this case there were three panels vertically at each floor level, with two storeys present below a closed truss. The original plan-form of the timber framed building as a whole is uncertain, but the presence of infilled mortices for a floor on the upper storey on the north side of the frame suggests that at least one bay has been removed, and it is possible to speculate that a single substantial building of up to three bays may have been accommodated within the plot. Further evidence of this is suggested by a hiatus in the capenters assembly mark sequence on the first floor, which suggests a doorway may have been infilled with an additional stud (S9). The assembly marks used in the structure were quite distinctive, the sequence of Roman numerals running vertically up each stud rather than reading horizontally across the building. The frame tags used at each mark, comprising a race-knife cut semi-circle with an attached stroke, are also distinctive. Further research locally may identify other structures built by the same team.
Laurence Hayes (Wed,) studied this question.