36 High Street

In the C19th no 36 was a pub - The George and Dragon - that featured in Edwin Edwards' travelogue of 'The Old Inns of England' (volume 1). Oddly Edwards did the etching of this property looking up from its 'famous hanging garden' below because this was the 'peculiar feature of Old Lowestoff' and its many inns that had 'little lookouts, platforms or balconies built upon them so that the sailing folk can indulge in pleasure and attend to business at one and the same time [ -] drink their fill and look after their work, one eye on the sea the other on the full tankard of liquor.' (Other activities are indicated alongside because at around the same time the landlord was fined for having prostitutes on the premises!)

In the C20th the pub was converted into a successful grocery outlet, sweet shop and factory. The Gaskins family owned no 36 as the shop and factory, no 37 as their family residence and no 35 as the place to do the accounts (they also traded from premises on the west side of the street too!) 

In the late 1960s the three houses were sold: with 35 and 36 being converted into a residential house and a shop selling antiques - firstly by Antony Wilkinson in 1972 then sold to the Webbs and then to George Osborne who is still remembered today. It was George who tamed and managed the garden (at the back of the two houses) that had become overgrown over a hundred years and restored it to a form of its famous 'hanging garden' of the past.

Since 2000 no 36 has been a residential house and not a shop. However, the property still has 'commercial usage' so allowing its current owners the opportunity to repurpose it in the future - who knows what its next incarnation may be. There is still much to do - in terms of the house, the gardens and the shop - all integral and important parts of this property's history. CREDIT:Susan Steward

No. 36 is the oldest house in Lowestoft, with its high-quality timber-framing reflecting remarks made about the town in May 1545 by Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. He was conducting a survey of East Coast defences and had this to say: "The town is as pretty a town as I know any few on the sea coasts, and as thrifty and honest people in the same, and right well builded."

In 1720, the property was occupied by Anne Fowler (merchant's widow), with a dwelling immediately to the north (No. 35) - in the tenancy of Stephen Buxton (mariner) - which had been built on land formerly belonging to No. 36. There was also a small house to the east of No. 36, in its yard, which belonged to the co-heirs of Elizabeth Belson (baker's widow). Both of these properties had right of access to the well belonging to No. 36.

Subdivision of this messuage had occurred after the death of Robert Tooley (grocer), who had originated from Holt in North Norfolk and married Tabitha Arnold, of Lowestoft, in July 1598. He is named as occupant of the property in the Manor Roll of 1618. By the terms of his will, his older daughter Elizabeth inherited the house and land to the east of it, while the younger one Margaret was left the undeveloped northern part of the messuage - both transactions being entered in the manorial records in December 1652.

There is no further record of the northern moiety, but the older Tooley daughter sold her portion to Robert Barker during 1663 and, in due course, it was then bequeathed to his daughter Elizabeth Belson (recorded August 1708). There are no details extant as to when the dwelling-house was built to the east of No. 36, but the manorial records show that it not only had right of access to the well, but use of a coal-house and of a passage into the High Street. The latter still exists between No. 36 and No. 37 - concealed by a "dummy" front door. CREDIT:David Butcher

No.36  the High Street and... it's a listed building   it's a grade two listed building and  it's reputed to be the oldest building in Lowestoft   dating from the middle of the 15th century.  The back... the rear part probably dates from the 1400s  and this bit that you see on the front, the overhang into the street, is probably a later addition,   these are all probabilities... built out over a yard at the front of the older building at the back.  This probably dates from the mid 16th century and it's a very interesting building   It would have been  originally would have been quite a grand dwelling  house but in later years certainly by the  early 19th century, the late 18th, early 19th century, it was a public house. It had also been a shop, prior to that it was a public house called 'The George & Dragon' in the early 1800s... and then later known as the 'Norwich Arms'.

This is when it was a shop the owner Mr Gaskin was a wholesale confectioner and he made sweets basically and sold them wholesale  but he also extended his property into No.35 next door and knocked through so at the time  there was the two buildings were joined to one but you can see it's changed a lot. One of the  interesting architectural features there, you can see that the front of the overhang is supported by  these wonderful cast iron pillars. It was basically a Sweet Factory.  So it's not a shop in a sense  you could go in and buy your sweets and   and confectionery. Mr Gaskin was actually producing different sweets and confectionery in that property.

Being a grade two listed building obviously you can't... the owners can't make radical changes  to the building itself, physical changes.   This is a wider the street, much later. It difficult to put an exact date on it. Probably in the late 1940s. The previous one was from  the 1930s I should think.  CREDIT: Ivan Bunn from transcript - Poetry People - High Street Histories 

Surviving internal timber framing

Oldest house in Lowestoft, dating from late 15th century onwards. High-quality merchant’s dwelling, with sumptuous timber framing present in main ground-floor space and in the first-floor room fronting the street. CREDIT:David Butcher