Whitehall, Bridge Street, Knighton
Whitehall is a period townhouse at the S end of Knighton at the extremity of the conservation area. It is named on the 1st edition OS six-inch map (Rads. XI.SW, 1888) and depicted with a large garden, which is now largely occupied by Tuffin's Supermarket. Whitehall has been used latterly for storage by the supermarket and a charity shop occupies the ground floor of the cross-wing. The name `Whitehall? probably refers to a substantial house (`hall?) that was limewashed historically.
Description
Whitehall has the L-plan characteristic of substantial period houses in the border towns. In houses of this type, generally the main range and gabled cross-wing fronts the street. Several examples are noted in RCAHMW's Houses and History in the March of Wales (2005), including Whitehall (Presteigne). Whitehall (Presteigne) is a late-medieval box-framed example but the house-type continues into the early-modern period. The later examples are generally stone-built with a hall/kitchen/service-rooms in the long arm of the L and a parlour in the cross-wing.
Whitehall (Knighton) is an example of the post-medieval stone-built type. It has the parlour in the cross-wing near the entry, which is one of the defining features of the plan-type. The projecting chimney of the wing, which still retains some stone tiles, shows the importance of the parlour and there are indications of a lateral chimney in the main range. The chimneys suggest that Whitehall (Knighton) has a C17th origin but the details of the fireplace openings are concealed. The cellar under the hall range was not accessible at the time of visit.
The observable detail is largely late Georgian/early Victorian. The roof-truss over the main range is a pegged and strapped king-post of c.1800+. The cross-wing however has two collar-beam trusses with raking struts with prominent assembly marks and is of eighteenth-century or earlier date. The main range was gutted in the C20th but the cross-wing is substantially intact with a ground-floor parlour and principal rooms over with alcoves flanking the concealed fireplaces. The principal architectural feature is the stair which serves the three storeys of the wing. The swept handrail terminates in a circular boss resting on an elegant turned newel. Several broadly contemporary sash windows survive along with the recessed street doorway. The windows have a raised (bolection) architrave. The two-panelled recessed door has long rectangular flanking panels defined by a raised moulding. The detail is repeated on the splendid plastered parlour beam where roll mouldings flank the long panels. The workmanship throughout is excellent.
Conclusion
Whitehall is a period house of hidden interest. There are two principal phases:
I. A substantial stone-built townhouse with parlour cross-wing. The lateral fireplace of the hall and the projecting fireplace of the wing are consistent with a later 16th/early C17th date but the detail is concealed. The trusses over the hall were replaced in the C19th but the wing retains trusses of earlier character.
II. The observable detail is broadly Georgian. In the earlier C19th the house was modernised with new windows and a recessed door. The parlour wing was is broadly of Georgian character and includes an impressive and sash windows.
Although the main range was radically replanned for storage in the later C20th the house is still very much of historic interest. In terms of `massing? the hall and cross-wing range with its Georgian detail makes an important architectural statement of substance and historicity at the S end of Knighton. In particular, the cross-wing with its projecting chimney, still retaining a slate verge, is an important focal point for those entering the town from the S. Demolition would be a matter for regret and an erosion of the architectural interest of the town. No doubt appropriate reuse can be found for this house of character.

Richard Suggett/RCAHMW/19 July 2017